


Torn Apart

by l_Misty_l



Category: The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2020-09-23 12:17:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 67,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20339986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/l_Misty_l/pseuds/l_Misty_l
Summary: Seven years passed since Sebastian's death. Clary and Jace should be happy, married, together. But they aren't. And they won't be.A dark shadow looms on their future, and it wants vengeance, suffering and pain."Death is easy. Death is final. You die and then you're at peace. No. Your punishment will be worse than that."





	1. Seven Years Later - The Circle Opens

**Author's Note:**

> **Author's note:** I wrote this fanfic before The Dark Artifices series was out.  
It's set seven years after City of Heavenly Fire. It contains spoilers and references to every Mortal Instruments book, to Infernal Devices, The Bane Chronicles and Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy but it's not up to date with anything that happened in the Dark Artifices series. Some characters I created cannot exist in canon because TDA still wasn't out when I wrote this. So consider this AU!  
I hope you'll enjoy it!

“It’s been seven years, Jonathan.”

The girl was standing still at the shore of Lake Lyn, her red hair slowly flowing with the winter breeze. She was dressed in a heavy coat and despite her white scarf her cheeks were bright red from the cold.

“Seven years since the day I met you for the first time—the same day that I lost you.” Clary sighed looking at the lake, still seeing it in her mind: those green eyes, finally clear of all evil, the way they looked at her. And then the way they closed forever.

“I’m sorry for coming alone this year, I know Jace is usually here as well but—” she stopped, suddenly looking away, her hands closing into fists. The trees were bare and white with snow, the silence so thick it looked like another dimension. A dead one. When she turned again towards the calm water, her eyes were filled with tears. “Do you remember us coming last time? Everything was perfect. Will didn’t like the snow too much, but I wanted you to meet him.”

Clary crouched down and grabbed some snow in her gloved hand, letting it take the shape of her fingers while she closed them. Then she discarded it, throwing it back on the ground.

“A lot changed Jonathan. Too much. My life is very different from what it used to be.” Her voice was bitter now. “I don’t think Jace will come again to see you. I don’t even know if I’ll return. Because, you see, this is all your fault. Even now, dead since seven years, your shadow ruins our lives. Even now you succeed in destroying everything I care about.”

Her green eyes dried up while she looked at the lake with a disgusted expression on her face. “You know, all these years, while I came here to talk to you, I always hoped that the Jonathan part of you, the one that was never allowed to live, was safe in Heaven somehow. I still hope that. But now all I can think about is Sebastian, the wicked monster that he was, the twisted being that wanted this world to burn in flames. And I hope with all my heart that Sebastian is now rotting in the deepest part of Hell. May he never find peace. I want him to suffer forever, like I am. Like I’ll suffer for the rest of my life. I hate you Sebastian. May your demon soul be damned for all eternity.”

Clary turned around and started walking away, never once looking back. If she did she knew she would crumble on the ground crying like a baby.

***

The Institute was cold that morning but Clary barely felt it while training. Seven years of actively shadowhunting had made wonders on her body, gifting her with a new found agility and a fluid grace she would have paid for when she was sixteen. The sword in her hand was like an extension of her arm, swinging back and forth at lightning speed, blocking every blow Simon tried and counterattacking. She recognised the moment the sparring got serious by the annoyed look in her _parabatai’s_ eyes. Simon hated losing and that was why she loved training with him: the others took it seriously but were always careful enough not to hurt each other while Simon always threw himself into the fight like it was real, like a demon was in front of him, and not just Clary. That was also the reason they always trained in full fighting gear, so they wouldn’t be hurt too much if they got carried away.

_Maybe Jace affected him a bit too much,_ she thought with an amused smile, _they fight with the same spirit._

She froze for a moment but quickly recovered, parrying Simon’s blow at the last second. _You’re an idiot Clary. Stop thinking about Jace, this is why you are training so hard._

“Don’t zone out, silly.” Simon smiled behind his sword. “Next time I won’t slow down not to hit you.”

“As if you could!” She replied grinning. “Save that for your dreams, _Loverboy_.”

She chuckled as Simon lunched forward again, dodging him but then he laughed suddenly lowering and kicking her legs, effectively unbalancing her and making her fall on the ground. He pointed his sword at her throat, smiling. “You were saying, Fray?”

She snorted, accepting defeat and sitting up. “Consider it a gift for the day. And I’m going by Fairchild since _years_, Simon.”

“You’ll always be Fray for me. It’s just your name. ” He winked at her before sitting down, heavily panting. “And as for _my_ name, it’s Lovelace, not Loverboy!”

Clary hit his shoulder while laughing. “Oh come on, you know you love it, my dear Lord Montgomery.”

“Oh _God_!” Simon cried, his cheeks a deep red now. “You’re never going to forget that, are you?”

“Could I? My poor, innocent eyes…”

“Well, that’s your fault for not knocking before coming in my room. You weren’t supposed to find me and Isabelle like _that_!”

She laughed again, thinking for a moment of how much she and Simon changed through the years. They were stronger of course, but the main changes weren’t physical. Back when they still weren’t involved in the Shadow World, Simon could have never joked about being found in a compromising position with his girlfriend. Well, he probably never thought about having a real girlfriend as well, someone who could understand him like Isabelle could, someone to share everything with. Being involved with the Shadowhunters, being forced to be a vampire at first and then a Shadowhunter himself deeply changed him, getting rid of his insecurities and making him grow. Having his whole memory back from the moment he Ascended certainly contributed as well and although George Lovelace’s death was a wound that would probably never stop bleeding, it shaped him, gave him a new identity. He was no longer a boy, Clary knew that. He was a confident man now, a brave fighter and her _parabatai_. She couldn’t stop thanking for that because Simon, as always, was her solid rock.

And Clary? From an average girl with a passion for drawing to the centre of the Mortal War first and the Dark War later. Way to change. And now she was a member of the Council as well, chosen from the New York Conclave to represent them. She had to thank her gift with runes for that of course: she couldn’t count the times when, during a Council session, a rune appeared in her mind to resolve the issue they were discussing. Life was easier for Shadowhunters now and Clary was almost expected to pop up with a new rune every time there was a problem. A new book was being written with all the runes she had uncovered as well; yes, life was definitely easier for the Nephilim now. A bit too easy maybe.

“You were distracted today, Clary.” Simon’s voice brought her back to the present. “Is everything ok?”

Ok? No, nothing was ok. Nothing would ever be ok again.

She closed her eyes aching to tell Simon, aching to tell him everything, even knowing she never could, but before she could answer the door of the training room opened and the words died in her throat when Jace walked in. He hadn’t changed much, still as beautiful as ever. Maybe more now that he was starting being more of a man and less of a boy. There was a powerful aura around him, something that shouted confidence and strength, but his eyes were empty, surrounded by dark circles that spoke of endless nights spent awake, tossing and turning in his own bed. The same eyes Clary had.

Simon anxiously looked at his _parabatai_ but she was already on her feet, looking everywhere but at the blond man slowly approaching.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Si.” She said, her voice tightly controlled. “I have to portal to Idris this afternoon, for a Council meeting. I’ll be back in the evening after it’s done.”

Simon nodded and she walked away, swallowing and keeping her gaze down.

“Jace.” She greeted with a cold voice, walking past him without raising her eyes.

“Clary.” He answered just like her, his eyes fixed on the other side of the room.

As she reached the door, she heard his metallic voice talking to Simon.

“Get up, Lovelace_._ Time to train.”

She closed the door on Simon’s resigned sigh and ran away.


	2. What's going on?

“Simon, are you sure we should do this?” Isabelle asked, nervously touching her hair.

They were sitting on the stairs in a very mundane condominium, a few meters from Clary’s apartment door. Isabelle never really liked that she moved away from the Institute, but she figured that with all that happened with Jace, staying away was the best solution for both of them. Clary wasn’t home yet, so Simon and Isabelle were waiting for her; they couldn’t see her door, but if she came with the elevator they would hear her.

“We will have to, sooner or later. It’s not like we can hide this forever.” Simon took his girlfriend’s hand in his own and gently squeezed it. “We must tell her, and we must tell Jace as well.”

“It’s just that—” Isabelle bit her lower lip, an uncharacteristic sign of uncertainty from her. “You know, with her and Jace like this—and Will—”

Her eyes suddenly filled with tears, but she swallowed them quickly.

“Hey,” Simon slowly stroke her cheek, “It’s alright to cry, you know.”

“_You_ are not crying,” she half accused him.

“Clary cries enough for the both of us.” He whispered feeling a familiar lump in his throat. “I had to learn to be strong for her. She needs me to.”

Isabelle sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. “I know. I’m sorry. With Jace is different, he doesn’t like crying. Maybe with Alec, but not with me—he vents by doing something physical. I can’t count the times we trained until he passed out, since it—happened.”

They stayed silent for a while, just drawing comfort from one another, Isabelle slowly tracing circles on Simon’s hand.

“Do you think they’ll ever heal?” She asked. “Be together again? Since they still have to remove the marriage runes—maybe there’s hope.”

Simon sighed, kissing her forehead. “I don’t know Izzy. Will’s sickness was devastating for them. Seeing their child suffer like that—When he died it broke them in ways I can’t even begin to understand. Clary used to tell me she couldn’t stand to look at Jace because he reminded her of William. Besides, you know they are both seeing other people now.”

“That’s rubbish,” she snorted, “we both know those two fairies are just rebounds. It happened too fast. I mean, it’s just been six months since—” She stopped. She just couldn’t say the words, as if not saying them could somehow deny her nephew’s death.

“Maybe. Clary and Jiliel are taking it slow, but Alec told me Jace and Kaelie look pretty serious about each other. He’s considering leaving the Institute to go live with her.”

“He’s—WHAT?” Isabelle looked at Simon in disbelief, her eyes widening in anger. “And why didn’t I know about this? Jace didn’t tell me anything! That’s stupid! That’s madness! That’s—”

The elevator chose that moment to open its door with a loud, creaking sound, cutting off Isabelle’s rant.

“—mostly about vampires. Anyway, my report for the Seelie Queen about today’s Council meeting will be ready tonight.” It was Clary’s voice.

Isabelle and Simon froze in shock. What the hell was happening?

***

Fairies were beautiful, there was no denying it and Jiliel Whitewillow was no exception. Tall, blond and blue eyed like his sister Kaelie, he had an elegant frame and delicate features. Despite his almost feminine face, he was toned and muscular and Clary knew he was a fine warrior, as able with a sword as herself.

If only a beautiful face was always equivalent to a beautiful soul—because Jiliel for sure hadn’t got one. Intelligent and cunning, like every fairy, he also had the advantage of having human blood in his veins, which allowed him to lie at his heart content, something he did with great pleasure. Clary knew about it of course, Jiliel never tried to hide it, always hinting to her that everything he was saying could be the truth—but could also be a lie, if it benefited him.

“It better be,” Jiliel was saying right now, talking about her report, “you know she doesn’t like waiting.”

“Have I ever disappointed?” Clary replied with a bitter smile walking to her apartment. It had been a long day; first the training and Jace. She still ached from seeing him, the familiar pain in her heart never dulling. Then the Council meeting in the afternoon and now she had to put up with her fairy “boyfriend”.

The fey suddenly yanked her arm pulling her back to him. In a moment she was enclosed in his arms, one of his long, delicate fingers grabbing her chin to lift her gaze to him.

“You better not, sweetheart. You’ve been a great source of informations in the last months and you’ll keep up the good work if you know what’s good for you.”

“Let me go,” she hissed, pushing him away. “We may be glamoured but we’re still in a mundie place.”

She opened the door to her apartment, threw the key on the table just near the entrance and left the door open, knowing there was no use in shutting Jiliel out. The fairy walked in as if he owned the place, a grin on his lips.

“Of course, I get it—better keep our loving side for your home, where nobody can hear you scream.” He winked at her, shutting the door and sitting down on the couch. “But first tell me about the Council meeting. You know I like to keep up to date.”

“There is nothing much to say.” She replied, shrugging. “The meeting was mostly about the London vampires, like I was saying in the elevator. They started stirring up some problems with the werewolves. There has been some killing and maiming and the London Enclave is trying to enforce the Law on the vampires. They are still trying to understand if it’s just some rogue vampire or if a clan is rebelling against the Clave. The werewolves for now are keeping quiet and letting the Shadowhunters do their job but there’s no telling how much longer they will stand the slaughter without going full force against the vampires. Looks like we could have a full scale Downworlders war pretty soon. The Council is worried mundanes will be involved, the Shadow World could be exposed.”

“Interesting.” Jiliel commented, crossing his legs in a relaxed position. “And how about the task the Queen set on you? Is there any progress?”

Clary looked at him, her eyes narrowing in disgust. “You’re asking me something that could take years to achieve. The fairies chose the wrong side in the Dark War and now they’re paying the price for it. I cannot push too much to have your kind back in the Council, it would be suspicious. For now be glad that I managed to send Helen Blackthorn back to Los Angeles, breaking her exile. It took me three months of constant convincing and it wasn’t easy at all.”

“But, you see—” Jiliel stood up, walking to her. His movements were fluid and graceful, like a dark panther slowly approaching its prey. “The Queen doesn’t care if it’s hard or not. We want to be back in the Covenant and we want the Clave to trust us again. Lower the guard. Allow us to carry weapons again in plain sight. And you Clary,” he suddenly grabbed her, turning her around and throwing her bent down on the kitchen table, one of her arms twisted behind her back, her wrist in his grip, “you’re the one that’s going to accomplish that. Even if it takes your whole life to do it. We are patient people. We can wait. But it _will_ be done darling. _You_ will do it.”

“Get off me.” Clary hissed trying to get up, but he just strengthened his hold on her, bending down to slowly kiss her exposed neck. “Get off me, now!”

“Oh baby—don’t be difficult. Like it is the first time I fuck you. Learn to enjoy that, sweetheart, you’re stuck with me until the day you die. You know you can’t do otherwise, don’t you? If it makes you feel less guilty, you can always picture Jace fucking my sister. Maybe he’s even doing it right now.”

“Let me go, you bastard!” She struggled again, her heart skipping a beat at his cruel words. She hated him. She hated him so much—

Jiliel grinned and his free hand grabbed her thigh slowly trailing upwards but he cursed when the apartment bell suddenly rang.

Clary held her breath in surprise and immediately asked who it was before the fey could stop her, trying to keep her voice under control. _Please, please, a neighbour, a deliver, anyone!_

“Clary, it’s us!” Isabelle’s cheerful voice came through the door. “Can we come in?”

Jiliel let Clary go and pulled her up, a dangerous glint in his eyes. “Go open the door dear,” he whispered in her ear, “and don’t worry about this little interruption—I’ll punish you later.”

She didn’t answer, she didn’t say anything. She knew she couldn’t. Six months ago she would have killed him for daring to lay his filthy hands on her but now she was tied, trapped, with no way out. Jiliel was right, she was stuck with him until the day she died. She could just hope that day would come soon, for this wasn’t life: this was Hell.

Step after step she went to the door, straightening her back, putting a fake smile on her lips. _Smile, Clary. Smile for them. Smile and keep them safe. __Smile._


	3. Lies and more lies

It didn’t take long before a lifetime of training took over Isabelle. The Shadowhunter sprang to her feet as soon as Clary’s door closed and she approached it, stele in hand, signalling Simon to be quiet. The boy looked at her, a question in his brown eyes, but he soon recognised what she was doing. He already saw many years ago the square Isabelle traced on Clary’s door: it was maybe the first “magic” he ever witnessed—Jace tracing it on the back of a rosewood screen so they could listen to Valentine’s lackeys while they interrogated Luke.

“It can’t be—it can’t. Not Clary.” Isabelle was getting paler every second they were listening to Clary and Jiliel but when the fey attacked their friend she had to stop Simon from barging in. He was shaking, furious and incredulous but Isabelle knew better than just letting him go like that.

“Simon. Simon _stop_.” She urged keeping a hand on his shoulder. “If they realise we’ve been listening, they’ll attack us.”

He turned to her, his eyes almost blazing, “Clary would never hurt us!”

“Maybe not voluntarily. But you heard her, she’s playing spy right now. And apparently she’s been forced into it or she’d use that fey as a punching bag until tomorrow. We can’t risk it.”  
She let him go while deleting the square from the door and she straightened up. “Ok, now smile Simon. Smile until your jaw hurts and then _keep smiling_.”

And she rang the doorbell.

She was scared Jiliel would try and prevent Clary from answering so when she heard her voice she sighed in relief. Now it was all about pretending they just came there and they didn’t witness an almost rape; she could only hope Simon would be a good actor.

“Hey Clary!” She smiled when the door was opened. “We were in the neighbourhood and we thought—oh hi Jiliel!” She added as she just saw him there. The fey waved, a pleasant smile on his lips. Isabelle instantly pictured herself slowly strangling him with her whip—the thought made his presence just a little more bearable.

Simon was smiling beside her, his hands in his pockets in a relaxed stance, though Isabelle suspected they were closed in fists right now.

“I know it’s been a long day for you, with the Council and all, so I thought maybe you could use a nice dinner out? Taki’s?” He winked. Ok, so maybe he was a better actor than she thought.

“Well, why not!” Clary smiled grabbing her coat, thanking God someone rescued her just in time. Maybe it was just delayed, but at least it wasn’t happening right _now_.

“Jiliel do you mind if we steal Clary for the night? I’m tired of listening to Isabelle’s constant whining about not having a good all girls night since a while.” Simon rolled his eyes looking annoyed just as Isabelle was punching him on the shoulder.

“Hey, I don’t whine!”

“Yes you do. Loudly.” The brown haired boy grinned.

If Simon hadn’t know where to look, he would have missed it: that slight tightening of the lips that showed the fairy was definitely furious. Nothing but jealousy showed on his eyes though when he replied. “I don’t know if I’m comfortable with Clary staying at the Institute knowing Jace is there. I know it’s stupid, but I want my gorgeous girl nowhere near him. Call me crazy in love and jealousy.” He winked at Clary and she giggled. _God, this is such an act,_ Isabelle thought. _Four people dancing around each other telling lies after lies, trying to best the opponents._

“He’s not home tonight,” she answered. “He’s out with Alec. Hunting duty.”

_Take that fairy. No way I’m letting you hurt Clary tonight. Or ever again if I can do something about it._

“Do you want to go sweetheart?” He asked, his unspoken words very clear. He was daring Clary to displease him.

“Oh come on, Clary!” Isabelle gave her the best pleading smile she could. “Just like old times! We can watch a movie, we can talk all night and I can tell you all sorts of embarrassing things about Simon!”

Clary quickly weighted her options: she had to act natural but at the same time she knew there would be hell to pay when she got back. “I don’t know—I’m a bit tired. It was a long day.”

“Jiliel,” Isabelle turned to the fairy, “tell your girlfriend that it’s ok or next time instead of whining to Simon, I’ll come directly after you!”

Again the twitch in his lips, Simon noticed. But this time he knew the fey had no choice. Isabelle’s request was perfectly reasonable and there wasn’t a good reason to turn it down.

As he was expecting, Jiliel started laughing, looking pretty amused. “Well, ok, just go Clary. God save me from Isabelle’s wrath! I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He reached for her and quickly kissed her before waving goodbye, leaving them alone.

***

Clary was relaxed for the first time in months. Dinner had been nice, an endless chat about nothing important and knowing she didn’t have to go back to Jiliel was wonderful. She knew there was something off, though. Isabelle and Simon were never “just in the neighbourhood”, if they wanted to hang out they usually called her first.

“So what’s up with you and Simon?” She asked once they were back in the Institute. She was in Isabelle’s room alone with her; when they got back Izzy had just told Simon to leave and go to Magnus to spend the night.

“What do you mean?” Izzy replied slipping out of her dress to change into something more comfortable.

“Well, you literally told him to leave the Institute and spend the night elsewhere. Why? Couldn’t he have slept in his room as usual?”

“And come crushing my all girls night?” Isabelle laughed. “You know how Simon is, he would never be able to resist the temptation to spend the night with you talking about Star Wars or something like that. You’re all mine now.” She grinned.

“Oh mighty Shadowhunter, I’m so scared.” Clary smiled, sitting on the bed.

“You should be.”

“Anyway, it’s just weird finding you at my apartment. It’s not that close to the Institute and you rarely come there.” Clary crossed her legs and looked at Izzy. “So, what’s up? Spill the beans Iz.”

Isabelle hesitated; that was the perfect moment to tell her why she and Simon wanted to see her, but she knew she couldn’t. If she had, Clary would have asked why they didn’t tell her at dinner, while they were all together and she couldn’t really answer that their mood was completely ruined by what they heard from her and Jiliel.

“Just what Simon said.” She shrugged in the end. “We thought you could use the night out after the meeting. And I really wanted to spend time with you. I’m much more persuasive in person than on the phone.”

She winked and Clary laughed even though she knew Isabelle was lying. After seven years of being as close as sisters, she knew every expression, every movement of the dark haired girl and now her whole body was telling Clary there was something off; her friends had come to her apartment for a reason but then they decided not to tell her.

“Izzy look at me.” She asked, now serious, dropping every pretence of believing her. Why was she lying? It couldn’t be anything about the Seelie Queen, right? “You’re making me worry now. Is everything all right? Is Simon all right? Are you? Just tell me please.”

“We’re fine Clary.” Isabelle sighed, knowing she wouldn’t be off the hook unless she gave her _something_. Clary wasn’t one to let go. She quickly thought about some excuses and then came up with a half truth; it was always the best lie. “There was something we wanted to tell you, yes. But I wasn’t sure it was the best idea—Simon was waiting for me to break the ice at dinner but I never did, so he didn’t as well. I guess he wanted me to feel comfortable with this.”

“Wow, this sounds serious.” Clary raised her eyebrows. “And you’re still not comfortable enough I guess?”

“Not really.” Isabelle admitted, now sincere. Even though Simon convinced her it was time to tell Clary and Jace she couldn’t never really be at ease with it.

Clary took her hand in hers and gently smiled. She wanted to assure Isabelle that she could tell her anything, that she was always there for her, but she just couldn’t. Being the first one to keep secrets, how could she encourage anybody to spill theirs? She couldn’t be such a hypocrite.

“I’ll be here when you are. I’ll wait until you’re ready.” She said, squeezing Isabelle’s hand.

Izzy smiled, even though she was aching inside. She wished she could tell Clary the real reason she was keeping quiet, she wished she could hug her and beg her to tell the truth: what was happening? Why would she betray the Clave? She had to find out something, anything that could give her a hint on why Clary was in such trouble before it became too serious. The Clave wasn’t merciful with traitors. War hero or not she would be stripped of her Marks if they found out.

“So,” she said, getting comfortable on the bed with Clary, “let’s talk about you and Jiliel instead of me and Simon.”

Clary slightly stiffened and even though she tried to conceal it, Isabelle noticed. “What about me and him?”

“Well, I’d like to know more about him.” Izzy laid down on the side, looking at Clary. “You never talk about him, I don’t even know how you met! All I know is that some months ago you just popped up the news you were dating him and that’s it. It’s quite intriguing actually—the mystery man.”

“Oh. Well I guess you have a point. I never talked much about him.” Clary tried to relax, thinking about the cover story she made up through the months. “I met him at Taki’s. Not really a surprise, since his sister works there.”

She tried to smile but thinking about Kaelie automatically led her to think about Jace. She swallowed back the tears that were starting to sting her eyes and took a deep breath. _Damn it Clary, when did you become such a crybaby? Pull yourself together, you can’t cry every time you think about Jace._

“He was charming and sweet, he offered me a hot chocolate saying it looked like I needed it. And then things just evolved.”

Isabelle said nothing, looking at Clary with a neutral expression and Clary sighed, biting her lower lip. “Listen Izzy, this is why I never talked about him. It’s hard for me, but I know it’s hard for you as well. I was married to your brother and I get that—”

“Do you love him?” Isabelle cut her short, her dark eyes looking into Clary’s green ones. She couldn’t stand the lies anymore. She didn’t want to ask more about her relationship with Jiliel because it was obvious Clary had a cover story ready to be told and she didn’t need to hear it. But she had to ask her if she loved the fairy. She had to know how far Clary was willing to go, how much of her soul she sold to the enemy.

“No.” Clary answered after a long silence. “I don’t love him. I don’t think I can love anymore Izzy. That part of my heart is forever taken from me and I’ll never have it back.” She took a deep breath and then let it go slowly. She hadn’t managed to lie again. She knew she was supposed to answer that yes, she did love Jiliel, yes, she wanted a future with him, but she just couldn’t. The Seelie Queen wouldn’t take that from her as well: her true feelings.

“That part of your heart belongs with Jace. Is that right?” Isabelle slowly replied. She was relieved Clary didn’t lie, but it wasn’t enough. Now she wanted the truth, all the truth she could get from her. The truth about Jace.

Clary sadly smiled, allowing herself to let go of any pretence, just for this once. There was no harm in that, it wasn’t compromising her mission. Nothing could.

“Jace and I can no longer be together. That future was taken from us along with our son.”

“But you still love him. Why are doing this to yourself Clary? Why are you doing this to him?”

“Because it’s the way it has to be. It’s the only way.”

“I don’t understand.” Izzy tried to push it a little more, feeling she was getting somewhere. Was all this treason madness about Jace? Was the Seelie Queen threatening him? “Why does it have to be this way? What’s stopping you to get him back?”

“William.” Clary whispered, so soft that Isabelle almost didn’t hear her. So was it true then? Clary couldn’t go back to Jace because their son’s death was still between them? Maybe Jace wasn’t the reason she was spying for the fairies then. Or maybe Clary was just lying to her again.

“But you do love Jace.” She said again. For some reasons she needed Clary to say it, to admit it, to show her another sign there was still hope.

Again, Clary smiled, a smile so sad it almost brought tears in Isabelle’s eyes. She never saw a smile so heartbroken, so empty, lifeless, lacking any hope.

“Yes,” Clary breathed, suddenly lost in the memory of a night in the City of Glass, many years ago, when Jace really confessed for the first time. “There is no pretending. I love him and I will love him until I die, and if there’s a life after that, I’ll love him then.”


	4. Revelations

_Why don_ _’t you go to Magnus tonight? You can try an all men evening, gossipping about the Downworld and watching weird crime movies. And if Alec complains when he comes back, tell him I didn’t want you around tonight and entertain him with some more gossip. I’m sure he’ll love it._

Isabelle and Simon had a weird way of communicating sometimes, cryptic messages nobody would understand, themselves included at times. But when she sent him away that evening, Simon knew exactly what she wanted.

As he knocked on Magnus door, he mentally replayed everything he heard that evening. Isabelle wanted him to talk to Magnus and Alec, to explain what happened. Despite being Alec’s boyfriend, Magnus still was the High Warlock of Brooklyn and he probably had access to a lot more informations about the Downworld than the Nephilim. Maybe he heard something about what was going on with the fairies.

The door opened and the cat like eyes of Magnus widened in mild surprise. “Seamus? To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Simon rolled his eyes, looking at the warlock. He was wearing comfortable pants and a red shirt and he had a chinese noodles cup in his hands. You could hear the TV in the background, Magnus was obviously having dinner. “Again with the name joke, Magnus? Don’t you ever get tired of it?”

“My guilty pleasure.” The warlock winked at him and moved back so Simon could get in the apartment. The Shadowhunter walked in, thinking about how much things changed through the years. Magnus’ loft wasn’t like it used to be when they first met: now it was more colourful, the walls filled with framed childish drawings of beaches, suns and Magnus and Alec holding hands with a blue skinned little boy.

“Ah.” Simon muttered suddenly remembering why the house was so quiet. “Max left yesterday with Catarina, right?”

The silence wasn’t the only giveaway for the absence of little Max Lightwood, the baby warlock Alec and Magnus adopted years ago. The loft was tidy and there were no toys scattered around: when Max was home, the floor was a minefield.

“Yes, he’s away for a week. Catarina will go crazy but it was her idea after all.” He smiled but his eyes were telling a different story. As much as he trusted the other warlock, Magnus missed his son and was worried. “Anyway she called an hour ago and Max was all excited about being in Disneyworld. She’ll have to drag him away kicking and screaming when it’s time to leave!”

Simon laughed thinking fondly about the baby warlock and the note they found with him when he was abandoned. _“Who could ever love it?”_ it said. Well, someone could: his parents, his grandparents, his friends—he was surrounded by love, the purest, brightest kind of love, and he would always be.

“Anyway,” Magnus said stirring his noodles, “Alec isn’t home tonight. He’s out with Jace.”

“I know.” Simon turned to him, running a hand through his hair. “I came to talk to you first.”

“Without sweet Isabelle?” Magnus headed to his couch and turned off the TV. “If you’re here to get some advice on how to escape your impending wedding, you knocked on the wrong door. No way I’m crossing Isabelle Lightwood by helping her fiancè to run.”

Simon blushed and looked uncomfortable. “I’m not going to run! Remember it’s me that proposed to her, not the other way around. And remember Jace and Clary don’t know yet, so keep quiet about it.”

“Sometimes I wonder when you will decide to tell them. Are you waiting for your lovely bride-to-be to appear in her beautiful golden gown?”

“It’s not that easy.” Simon sat down on a chair, crossing his legs. “Izzy isn’t comfortable with telling them yet. She’s scared to hurt them, she thinks that a wedding now, when they’re both still suffering about their break up would just increase the pain.”

“Or maybe Clary would just be happy her _parabatai_ got the girl and Jace would be happy someone is patient enough to put up with his sister.” Magnus was talking while eating his noodles, shaking his head. “Anyway. What do you want Simon? I was watching TV.”

Simon took a deep breath. “Something happened tonight. I still don’t believe it but Isabelle wants me to tell you and Alec. Maybe you’ll be able to make some sense out of it because I most certainly can’t.”

As he was talking Magnus didn’t say a word, just listening and when the Shadowhunter finished, he crossed his legs and rubbed his chin. “So let me summarise: one of our Dark War Heroes, possibly the most important Shadowhunter you have at the moment, is spying for the Fair Folk who is probably plotting a revenge against the Clave for punishing them after the war. Interesting.”

“And I guess nothing ever transpired in the Downworld, right?”

“I very much doubt so.” Magnus leaned back on his couch. “The fairies are a secretive people. If they’re preparing for war it’s unlikely they go around telling anyone about it. Not to mention that they were forbidden to have an army when the peace treaty was signed. They are obviously doing everything in secrecy.”

“The peace treaty.” Simon sighed. “It certainly was a mistake, was it? I wasn’t there but from what I heard it was nothing but crushing the Fair Folk for good.”

“Nobody listened when I said this would bring nothing but more pain. The Nephilim were never known for their mercy, especially toward Downworlders.”

“Do you think you could get some informations?” Simon asked after a moment of silence.

“I can try. But having a Shadowhunter as my boyfriend cut me out a bit from the gossip. Everyone is afraid I’ll go tell the Nephilim.”

“Damn.” Simon sighed, his head in his hands. “I just can’t understand why Clary. Why choosing her and why she’s doing it. It makes no sense!”

“The answer is easy enough.” Magnus looked at the Shadowhunter. “They have some kind of leverage on her. Something she wants. Or maybe, and more probably, they are threatening someone she loves.”

Simon nodded. “That’s what I thought as well. Clary is betraying the Clave, she’ll be stripped of her Marks if they find out. It can’t be her family because they are back in Idris and I don’t think they can be hurt there. Too many Nephilim eyes. So that leaves... us.”

“So some of us, or maybe all of us have a death sentence from the Seelie Queen. That’s wonderful.” Magnus shook his head. “I’m suddenly glad Max isn’t here, though I hope they wouldn’t dare to touch him. It must be something more though. I mean, if it’s true, they’re threatening four Shadowhunters and the High Warlock of Brooklyn. They must have a hell of a plan to scare Clary to the point she would spy for them to save us.”

“Actually,” Simon hesitated suddenly realising something, “maybe it’s easier than it sounds. Jiliel is Clary’s contact. And Kaelie is Jiliel’s sister.”

The warlock completed the thought. “And Kaelie is close to Jace right now.”

“It all points to Jace, right? What better way to threaten Clary? It actually makes sense with the timing as well: Clary broke up with him almost six months ago, shortly after Will’s death. And Jiliel said she’s been their informant since the past few months. She must have left Jace to keep him away from her, so he wouldn’t know what she was doing.”

“And then Kaelie came into the picture to nurse his broken heart. And to pierce it with a blade should Clary misbehave.” Magnus was shaking his head though. “It still doesn’t make sense. First of all they couldn’t be sure Jace would begin a relationship with Kaelie. And second, we’re talking about _Jace Herondale_. Do you really think a fairy like Kaelie Whitewillow would ever be in the position of hurting him? Even if she tried to kill him while he’s sleeping? Or that any fairy could, for what matters? Jace is the best Shadowhunter ever existed, he’s certainly not a child that could—.”

As Magnus went on talking, Simon stopped listening, his mind focusing on a thought that kept eluding him. What was that? He knew it was important. He felt it. It was on the tip of his tongue and yet he couldn’t place it. He focused on the second he felt that sudden _eureka_ moment and retraced his mental processes: Magnus had said that it was unlikely someone could really threaten Jace because Jace…

“Oh God, Magnus...” Simon interrupted him, suddenly pale, like he was about to get sick. A child, Magnus said. Jace was not a child. But someone else was. Someone else had been a child.

The warlock looked at him raising his eyebrows. “Well, thank you, but I’m not really a God—”

“Will. It all started with William!” Simon was almost frantic now. “We never found out what Will’s sickness was. We tried everything we could, you tried magic, we called the Silent Brothers, Alec even asked Lily and Maya and neither the vampires nor the werewolves could do anything... we never found a cure for his illness.”

Magnus paled as well, suddenly standing up. “You think it was the fairies? That they somehow caused...” He said no more turning around and almost running to his library. “Help me out. What were the symptoms?”

“Fever. Convulsions. Vomit. Clary said he got weaker and weaker until a convulsion made his heart stop beating.” Simon tried to relate it all without emotions but on the last bit his voice broke like he was about to cry.

Magnus shot him a sympathetic look while still looking at his books. “Got it,” he said pulling one out. “I never thought about the fairies, I never thought it could be—I mean, William wasn’t even two years old!” He was turning page after page and then he stopped. When he raised his eyes again it looked like he was ready to be sick along with Simon.

“Poison. It was poison.” He whispered, handing the book to the Shadowhunter.

“Kohl,” Simon read, looking at the picture of a short, brown leaf. “Rare plant only growing in the fairy kingdom. It’s used to prepare the Kohl poison. The Kohl poison must be injected under the skin to take effect and it’s typically shot with a blowpipe. The symptoms manifest three days after the injections and are: high fever, vomit, convulsions. The convulsions are the final stage and they increase in duration and occurrence until the heart stop beating. The only antidote is the same Kohl plant, boiled and filtered and administrated as an infusion. The antidote has a temporary effect only and needs to be drank daily and every day for it to have proper effect in defeating the poison. Even though its effect isn’t permanent, the antidote immediately offers relief from the symptoms allowing the poisoned person to regain strength. There is no known permanent antidote, as of now.”

A thick silence fell on the room until Simon whispered, his hands shacking and barely holding the book. “They killed a child. They killed an innocent, defenceless child.”

“And then they threatened Clary to do the same with Jace. Or with all of us, for all we know.”

“Clary left Jace to protect him.” Simon realised. “If he ever found out why their child died, he would have started a war all by himself making it his life mission to kill the Seelie Queen. And that’s why she left the Institute as well. She didn’t want us knowing she was being blackmailed into spying for her son’s murderer. Oh God, my Clary—we have to tell Jace, we have to stop this.”

“That’s a bad idea.” Magnus slowly sat down again. “Jace would go crazy, like you said. Not only his son died, but his wife is being blackmailed and from what you told me, raped on regular basis by a fairy. We need to know more before we can tell him. We need to uncover the Fair Folk plan, find out how to stop it without getting killed. If they are using this type of poison, they can strike anywhere, every time we’re out in the open and we have no way of preventing it. The only place where we would maybe be safe in is Idris, right now. And that’s exactly where I’m telling Catarina to bring my son. Like, right now. If the fairies did that to Will, it means they won’t really stop at nothing.”

He took out his phone still listening to Simon while dialling.

“What if we exposed the truth about Will’s death to the Clave? He was only a child, but he was a Shadowhunter and he was murdered by the fey.” Simon now was walking around, opening and closing his fists. He was furious.

“He was killed _using_ fairy poison,” Magnus corrected him. “We can’t prove they were the ones who used it. They could have sold it to anybody, at any time. We can’t accuse the fey without accusing Clary as well as consequence: her betrayal is what would prove the truth about William, but then she would die.”

“Damn it!” Simon shouted, frustrated. “There must be something we can do! I can’t let that filthy—dirty—I can’t let him hurt her again!”

“Tell her about the wedding.” Magnus suggested. “Tell her and then have Isabelle beg for help. Make it look like she needs help to set everything up, that she needs Clary day and night until it’s all ready. That way at least we can cut the time she spends with Jiliel. We can do nothing about the spying though.”

“Keeping her away from that fey will do for now. I can’t stand the thought of him touching her ever again. I’ll kill him I swear.”

“Take a number.” Magnus darkly said. “You’ll have the queue for that.”

***

It was cold that night, but it was December so it had to be expected. Even the heating rune could only do so much but as he was running, Jace barely noticed the cold. His seraph blade was shining in his hand and the witchlight Alec carried was lightning up the way. The Eidolon demon just turned around the corner but the ichor trail he was leaving behind perfectly showed the two Shadowhunters where to go. Alec’s arrow was still pierced in the demon leg, slowing him down to the point that Jace easily reached up from behind and cleanly slit his throat. Seconds later nothing remained, just the two boys, alone in the dark alley.

“Well, at least we didn’t stay out for nothing tonight.” Jace commented. “It’s damn cold and we’ve been running around for hours to find the bastard.”

“Turning into a granny, Jace?” Alec grinned, his hands still holding the bow. “Do you need the hot water bottle? Or do you prefer me to cuddle you?”

_Ah yes, the new Alec_, Jace thought, fondly looking at his _parabatai_. Being with Magnus for so long brought out a side of Alec nobody ever saw, the playful, joyful side. Alec could joke around now, laugh, smile—and the shadow of all those years spent denying himself the happiness he deserved and thinking he was in love with Jace, were behind him now. And then there was Max: being a parent really changed his brother and for the best.

“I knew you would cave in sooner or later. Who can resist all of _this_, after all?” Jace laughed, pointing at himself. “Let’s run away together and live our forbidden love, in a place where nobody will find us!”

“Nobody better do because Magnus would turn you into a hatstand for the rest of your life!”

“And Kaelie would tear you to pieces with her teeth.”

Alec’s smile faltered at the mention of the fairy and he looked at Jace suddenly serious.

“Oh no, not that face again.” Jace whined, rolling his eyes. “We’re not having this conversation Alec.”

“Yes we are. You still owe me one after that wake up call about Magnus in Alicante, do you remember?” Alec started walking alongside Jace, the two glamoured Shadowhunters gracefully strolling on the road.

“Well, I don’t need any wake up calls. I’m perfectly fine.”

“Please,” Alec snorted. “You can fool Isabelle maybe, but you can’t fool me. I know you better than yourself sometimes.”

“Apparently this is not one of those times.” Jace’s voice was turning cold but Alec wasn’t going to stop.

“You don’t love her. I can understand her being a sort of distraction after all that happened but why are you even thinking about moving in with her?”

“What makes you believe I don’t love her? She’s a nice girl.”

Alec shot him a knowing glance and Jace rolled his eyes again. “Ok, fine, maybe I don’t. But I still need to be with her.” He paused biting his lip as if he just said something he wasn’t planning to and then he continued. “And anyway what should I do? Mope around for the rest of my life?”

“You know what you should do, Jace.” Alec’s voice was firm but his eyes were gentle as they looked at his brother.

Jace’s face turned to stone. “I can’t. And nothing can change that.”

“You know, talking to you and Clary is damn frustrating.” Alec threw his hands in the air. “You’re both unbelievably set on suffering forever.”

“Leave Clary alone.” Jace grabbed his _parabatai_ arm, a dangerous look now in his eyes. “She’s been through enough and this has nothing to do with any of you, so just let it go. And me as well.”

“Jace—”

“I’m going home. Bye Alec.”

He strolled off as fast as he could, a bitter feeling in his mouth. Yes, Alec was right, he knew what he was supposed to do in his friends eyes. And there were very few things that he wanted more than having Clary back with him. But he couldn’t. Not in this life. They were both condemned to suffer, to be punished for even trying to be happy. It was how it was going to be and nobody could do anything about it.

The Institute was full of memories, he thought when he entered it. He couldn’t blame Clary for leaving and even though his reasons for considering moving out were different from hers, he admitted the memories played a big part in it. Every corner, every corridor made him remember a life that was no longer his. Every kiss, every laughter, carved in his heart. And William. His first steps, his smiles, his toys scattered everywhere. Jace pushed down the sudden lump in his throat and headed to his room but stopped near Isabelle’s as he heard a sound he thought he would never hear again: Clary’s voice, Clary’s laughter. She was in there with Izzy.

His heart skipped a beat and he stopped moving as if he was suddenly glued to the ground. What was she doing there? So late at night? Why was she there?

As the laughters kept going, he flattened against the wall. By the Angel, how he missed that sound. How he missed _her_. He closed his eyes pretending he was in another place, in another time and he let Clary’s laughter guide him to a happy memory: suddenly he was projected on the last summer they spent all together. He was back in the park, William’s laughter in his ears as he was running on the grass on his short legs, chasing Clary who was pretending to run away from him. The little kid was then suddenly in the air in his arms and they were playing airplane. William was still laughing opening his arms in the wind, his blond curls all over his face.

“Izzy, it’s time to sleep, you know?” Clary’s voice interrupted his fantasy and he hastily dried the tear that was running down his left cheek. “Is my old, single, room still available?”

Jace’s heart skipped another beat and he lightly walked to his own room, careful not to be heard. Clary would be sleeping there, in the Institute. She wasn’t going home. She would be there, just a few doors down the corridor. So close. So damn close.

He got into his room and he leaned against the door, his hands closed in fists at his sides. He heard Izzy’s door open and close and then Clary’s light footsteps approaching. His heartbeat increased to the point he felt his heart was about to burst out of his body and he bit his lip making it almost bleed.

_I can_ _’t. I can’t. I can’t. I can’t._

He kept chanting those words to himself again and again but when Clary passed his door heading to her own room, his mind went blank and pure instinct took over. He suddenly opened his door, grabbed Clary’s arm and yanked her inside. Before she could utter a single word he kicked the door closed again, threw her against it and kissed her, grabbing her hands and pinning them over her head. His body pressed her against the door, keeping her in place as his lips claimed her mouth with despair, longing, lust. Clary reacted instantly, at first kicking his legs, then trying to get free from his hands but when she felt his tongue brush her lips all her resolve suddenly faded and she found herself kissing him back with the same fervour.

Jace released her hands and descended on her neck almost devouring her, wrapping his arms on her waist and pressing her to him so hard she felt they were merging together.

“Jace—Jace please—” she whispered trying to stop him but unaware that her own hands were now grabbing his shoulders, keeping him as close to her as possible.

“I miss you. I miss you so much.” He groaned between the kisses, his hands sliding underneath her shirt, touching the bare skin of her back. She shivered, a moan escaping her lips but when her shirt fell on the floor and Jace’s hands cupped her breast, the dark images of Jiliel undressing her, hurting her, forcing her, took over and she pushed Jace away, gasping a strangled denial, feeling tears stinging her eyes.

Jace looked at her with surprise but when he saw her face the surprise quickly gave way to concern.

“Clary?” he asked uncertain.

“We can’t—” she whispered, recovering her shirt and putting it back on, trying to catch her breath. “I’m sorry, I miss you so much but we can’t.”

He said nothing for a few moments then he caressed her hair, leaning down so their forehead would touch. “I feel like dying Clary. I don’t know how much longer I can go on living like this.”

“We have to. There’s no other way.” Her eyes were closed, tears silently falling down.

Jace sighed, trying to calm his heart down and then hugged her fiercely, burying his face in her red curls. “Tell me you love me Clary. Tell me this is killing you as much as it’s killing me. I need to hear you love me.”

“I love you more than anyone can know,” she sobbed in his arms, “there’s not a day that I don’t think about you, that I don’t long for you. I miss you so much, Jace, I miss everything so much.”

“Then stay with me tonight.” He whispered in her hair. “Nobody has to know. Jiliel won’t know, Kaelie won’t know, everybody thinks I’m with Alec tonight. Stay Clary, I need you.”

She shook her head, still sobbing. “We can’t, Jace. I can’t.”

He strengthened his hold on her but she disentangled from his arms and turned around, her hands closed in fists.

“Clary—”

“No, you don’t understand.” She was shacking now. “I want to, God knows I do—but I _can__’t_.”

Something in the quiet hopelessness in her voice made him frown and then his eyes widened. Jace turned her around, his hands on her shoulder.

“He hurt you.” He said, his voice breaking. “He hurt you, didn’t he?”

When she didn’t answer he drew her in his embrace again, hugging her with despair. “By the Angel Clary, why didn’t you tell me—how long?”

“Since the beginning.” She answered after a long time, whispering so low he almost didn’t hear it.

“I’ll kill him,” he swore, “if it’s the last thing I do, I’ll kill him.”

She shook her head, new tears streaming down her cheeks. “You can’t Jace, you know you can’t.”

“I won’t let that worm touch you again, Clary—”

“Yes you _will_.” She raised her gaze and took his face in her hands, making him look at her. “You have to. Just like I have to endure you being with Kaelie, you have to endure this. I’m strong, I can bear it. For as long as it takes.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment, as if he was looking for the right words, but then he just hugged her again, needing to feel her against him. “I’ll find a way. I’m working on it. I promise you Clary, I’ll find a way, I’ll get us out of this nightmare.”

“Hold me,” she quietly said, “hold me Jace. Hold me close. I don’t think I can face tomorrow if you don’t hold me now. Please.”

And he did. He did all night, keeping her close, stroking her hair, feeling her breathing alongside with him. Neither of them slept that night. Tomorrow the nightmare would begin again, stronger than ever, but tonight they had each other. Even if just for some stolen hours.


	5. The most craved hour

Alec quietly closed the door behind him, removing his scarf and placing it on the hatstand. He was sad and he didn’t know what to do: it was obvious that Jace was suffering and not being able to help his brother and _parabatai_ was tearing him up from the inside.

Maybe it was just too soon, he reasoned. With Will’s death still so fresh, he could understand how Clary and Jace would need time to overcome their grief, but weren’t they supposed to do it together? Weren’t they stronger together than apart? He knew that if something so horrible happened to Max, he would need Magnus day and night because he was his strength and his courage. He would never be able to face something like that alone. And yet Jace and Clary were determined to be apart, even though it was obvious to anyone who had eyes to see they were still definitely in love with each other. They were one of the few couples Alec knew that he was sure would stay together for the rest of their lives. It was just a temporary stop, he told himself, they just needed time.

The Shadowhunter walked into the living room but stopped just at the entrance. Magnus was there, sitting on a couch, but apparently they had a guest as well: Simon, who was sitting on the floor, his back leaning against the wall. He had an open book near his leg and when both him and Magnus turned to look at him, pale and serious, his heart sped up.

“What’s up?” He asked, already dreading the answer. Had something happened to Max? But he was supposed to be safe with Catarina!

“Trouble.” Was all Magnus said, telling him with his eyes to sit down.

“Is Max alright? Is Izzy?” Alec asked again, seeing no other reason for Simon’s presence.

Simon shook his head and weakly smiled. “They are fine. Izzy’s the one who sent me here to talk to you and Magnus.”

“Talk to us about what? Just tell me.”

Whatever it was, it wasn’t good news. From the look of his boyfriend, who was usually calm and collected, it was indeed a very bad news: the last time he saw Magnus that pale, he was dying in Edom.

“We found out the reason why Clary broke up with Jace and it’s not what she told everyone.” Magnus told him, no inflection in his voice. It was like his mind was elsewhere and his mouth was just talking on auto-pilot.

“What do you mean?” Alec asked, slowly sitting down on a chair. He had the feeling he was going to need to be seated.

“Tonight me and Izzy casually heard her talking to Jiliel.” Simon answered. “He’s not her boyfriend, he’s her contact with the Seelie Court. Clary is spying for them. The Seelie Queen is blackmailing her, threatening her with Jace’s life. Or perhaps with the lives of all of us. With this.” He threw him the book and Alec caught it, opening it on the page Simon was looking at. As he was reading the poison description he started to get sick, his insides twisting in a painful knot.

“How—” he started asking but then it hit him. Worse than a punch in the gut. He looked at the two men, his eyes wide in understanding and the book fell out of his grasp.

“It can’t be.” He whispered. “Please, tell me it’s not what I’m thinking about. Tell me they didn’t do it.”

Magnus looked at him, slightly nodding and Alec put his head in his hands, closing his eyes. “Bastards. How could they—he suffered so much, he was in so much pain—” He suddenly raised his head again. “Does Jace know? About this? And what do you mean Clary is spying for the fairies? And, by the Angel, we need to get Max to somewhere safe--”

“Max is fine, I already talked to Catarina.” Magnus pinched the bridge of his nose. “She’ll bring him to Alicante and keep him there. She knows not to tell anybody they are there, they’ll be in hiding for a while.”

Simon sighed leaning again against the wall. “And we think Jace knows nothing of this or he would have gone on a killing spree. You know him. Knowing his son died like that would make him crazy.”

“As for Clary,” Magnus added, “she’s passing informations to the Seelie Queen about the Council meetings. We don’t know since how long, but it’s fair to presume it’s going on since Will’s death.”

Alec passed a hand in his hair, trying to focus, even though images of Will’s pale face in his last days kept haunting him. His poor nephew, murdered in cold blood by those treacherous people. If Jace went to kill them all, Alec would make sure to be just beside him to help.

“So the fairies are planning to break the treaty and wage war against the Clave. And if we try to warn them, Clary will be exposed and killed.”

“Yes.” Magnus nodded.

Silence fell on the room for some minutes, until Alec raised his eyes again. “We need to tell Jace.”

“Alec—” Simon looked alarmed.

“No, you don’t get it.” Alec looked at them. “We _have_ to. I know him, if he ever finds out we kept something like that from him, it’s over. And Clary... he has to know. He has to know what she’s going through.”

“Alec, are you sure it’s a good idea?” Magnus looked worried. “Jace could do something rash if we tell him everything.”

The blue eyed Shadowhunter got up and started pacing around. “We’ll be with him, we’ll make him see reason. Jace is a tactician, we’ll manage to make him think. And then we’ll find a way to get out of this mess. And to make the Seelie Queen pay for what she did to William. Does Izzy know?”

“Not about Will.” Simon answered. “Me and Magnus figured it out when I got here.”

“Alright. Then we’ll go first thing in the morning. The sooner the better.”

They all nodded, even though Simon didn’t look convinced, but Alec knew it was the best thing they could do. Jace had to know, and he had to know immediately. This wasn’t only about Clary, he was in danger as well, after all he was dating Kaelie who was Jiliel’s sister and—

Alec stopped pacing, taking a sharp breath as suddenly several pieces of the puzzle started clicking together. “He knows.” He breathed quietly. “Jace already knows everything.”

“What?” Magnus and Simon uttered together.

“Think about it, guys.” Alec was talking slowly now, like he was trying to follow the trail of his thoughts and make a sense out of it. “He’s dating Kaelie, who just happens to be Jiliel’s sister. And he started dating her roughly at the same time Clary did with Jiliel.”

Simon raised his eyebrow. “It’s a weird coincidence, but—”

“He never _once_ tried to get Clary back. Never. That’s not Jace at all, I expected him to make some move sooner or later, but he never did.” Alec shook his head. “I know he loves her, he can’t hide it. And yet he let her stay with Jiliel. He always told me he was respecting Clary’s decision but now I think he knows she has no choice. Jace is the jealous type, he would never let another man touch his wife. They never even had the marriage runes removed! He knows. He must know.”

“Then why isn’t he doing anything about it?” Simon enquired.

“He is.” Magnus answered, starting to see the pattern. “He’s dating Kaelie. Clary is their insider, and Jace is trying to make Kaelie his informant. That’s why he’s thinking about moving in with her. He wants her to fall in love with him, so she’ll help him ruining the Queen's plans and saving Clary.”

“As I said, Jace is a tactician. He thinks strategically.” Alec nodded, almost smiling now. “He has a plan and he’s acting on it.”

“Why didn’t he tell us then?” Simon got up from the floor and this time he looked angry. “We could have helped and maybe I could have taken Clary away from that rapist monster earlier.”

Alec sharply turned to him. “Jiliel is hurting Clary?”

Simon nodded. “Izzy and I walked in her apartment right when he was about to rape her. And from what he said, he did it before.”

“The _bastard_!” Alec shouted, his whole body shacking in hatred. “I’ll kill him so much he’ll rise from the dead and then die again!”

“Told you you would have to take the number, Seamus.” Magnus said in a low voice.

***

“The sun is almost rising.” Clary quietly said, still in Jace’s arms. She had her eyes closed, but she could feel the dawn in the air. “I should go before Izzy wakes up.”

“Stay some more minutes.” He whispered in her hair. “It’s still dark outside. Besides we’ll have to go soon enough.”

She nodded, caressing his arm. “Are you ready for today?”

She didn’t need to remind him which day it was. She knew it was carved in his heart just as much as it was carved in hers. Once a month. It was once a month. And for just an hour. The hour they most craved for, and yet the hour they most dreaded.

“No.” His voice faltered but his hold on her strengthened. “I’m never ready. Every time it just kills me more and more.”

“And yet you can’t avoid it. I know. Neither can I. It kills me, but I want to go all the same. I need to.”

“We’re close Clary. I promise you. Kaelie is softening up and if I manage to move in with her, I’ll have more time to convince her. Trust me.”

She stopped caressing him and sighed. “I don’t want to know Jace. I don’t want to imagine you with her, it just breaks my heart more.”

He gently held her face in his hand and made her look at him. “I still haven’t, Clary. I haven’t slept with her yet.”

“Yet.” She just repeated and he nodded, pain clearly written in his eyes.

“Yes. You know I’ll do it if I have to. If I think it will help us. I won’t stop at anything to succeed. Even if it means tainting my soul beyond redemption. But Clary,” his fingers on her cheek tightened, his eyes never leaving her own. “Every time I’m with her, every word I tell her, everything... It’s not for her. I’m with you. I’m saying those words to you. You’re the one in my soul, you’re the one I love. Always. And picturing you in front of me all the time is the only way to be with her.”

She tried to smile but she failed, so she just closed her eyes again and brushed his lips with the ghost of a kiss. He breathed on her lips, moving against her mouth slowly and sweetly, holding her close.

“She’s the one who’s coming with us today,” Jace whispered again. “That could be good. Seeing us like that. Seeing me like that.”

“Let’s hope she has a heart then. Unlike her Queen.” Clary whispered back. And then neither of them talked anymore.

They left the Institute early that morning, the sun had just risen up but they knew they had a long walk waiting for them: it was part of a sort of private ritual, walking all the way to the park instead of driving there or even taking the subway. They both needed that time to prepare, to steel their hearts so they wouldn’t be broken. They never talked but occasionally they held hands, drawing strength from each other. When they reached Central Park they both took a deep breath before heading to a special circle of trees.

“Kaelie,” Jace softly called. “We’re here.”

The blue eyed fairy came out of nowhere, smiling at the male Shadowhunter. She never looked at Clary.

“How did it go tonight?” She asked, walking to Jace.

“It was fine. Some demons bit the dust.” Jace grinned at her, but then turned serious. “Is it time to go yet?”

“Yes.” She nodded, looking at both of them now. Her face was expressionless but Clary thought of maybe seeing a shadow of pity in her eyes. Without saying anything Clary took Jace’s hand in one of her own and then Kaelie’s in the other one. The fairy closed the circle grabbing Jace’s hand. And then they were suddenly gone.

When they opened their eyes again, they were at the Seelie Court. Kaelie started walking and they followed, their hearts increasing the beating with every step, both hope and agony already taking their minds over.

At last the fairy stopped and motioned them to keep going, stepping on a balcony. Below them was a round room, painted in bright colours, where winged little fairies were flying around laughing with their thin voices. And down there, running on his short legs among scattered toys, was a little kid, chasing the fairies.

Clary’s eyes filled with tears and she grabbed Jace’s hand trying to steady herself. The boy had long, soft blond curls and looked happy, laughing while running.

Jace’s hand tightened his grip and she knew without looking that he was crying, like she was.

She looked at the kid, softly whispering one single word, over and over, like a prayer.

William.

William.

William.


	6. A punishment worse than death

Going back to the Institute after visiting William was always hard for Jace. Neither him nor Clary were allowed to hold their child, or even talk to him, they were just allowed to spy on him, to look at him playing, eating, sleeping. And after that single hour they were forced to leave, to go back to their empty lives, heartbroken once again and destined to suffer alone, because they couldn’t tell nobody. Their families couldn’t know and while Clary could just walk home and spend the rest of the day crying alone, Jace was forced to go back to the Institute and pretend everything was fine. Like now.

He took a deep breath in the elevator and when he stepped out he was once again prepared to be his usual self, so nobody would suspect anything. He walked to his room wanting to change before heading to the training room; he needed to work out, to lash out, to lose himself doing something physical.

“Jace!” He heard a voice behind him and frowned as he saw Isabelle. “Where were you? I’ve been calling you all morning!”

_I was visiting my son, who_ _’s prisoner in the Seelie Court. Sorry I didn’t bother to bring my phone in my once a month visiting hour._

Jace swallowed the instinctive reply and forced his face to a neutral expression. “I was out and I left my phone here. Did you need anything?”

“Yes.” She nodded vigorously. “Come with me, I need to show you something.”

“Can’t this wait? I was going to change and train.”

“No, it can’t. Come on, it’s important.”

Jace shrugged and followed her, trying to welcome the distraction. It wasn’t the same as working out, but maybe he could ease the pain by concentrating on something else. As he walked in the library, he was mildly surprised: Isabelle never was a book worm, what could she possibly have to show him there?

“What’s going on?” He finally asked as he caught sight of a small reunion around one of the library tables. Alec was there, and Magnus and Simon. Isabelle closed and locked the door behind him and he noticed that her previously friendly expression now changed to a very serious one. An angry one, even.

“Jace, come here.” Alec called, taking a step towards him.

“What’s this, some kind of Intervention? I get it’s the fashion of the moment, but I don’t really need it.” He was starting to be irritated.

“We have something to tell you.” Isabelle told him, still at his side. He noticed she was armed and she was holding her whip. She looked like ready to strike.

He raised his eyebrow, looking around. Simon and Alec didn’t look armed, and Magnus was as casual as always, but he could feel it in the air: something was wrong. “I thought you were going to _show_ me something.”

“Yeah, well, I lied.” She smoothly replied, putting a hand on his back and slightly pushing him forward. “Come on.”

He stopped and took a step away from Isabelle. “I don’t think I want to hear any of this.”

“That’s too bad, because you will anyway.” Simon told him, surprising Jace with his venomous voice. Yes, something was definitely wrong.

“Angry, Lovelace?” He asked mockingly. “Did Izzy beat you at training, _again_?”

“You’re an idiot, Jace.” Now Simon was walking to him, so furious he looked ready to kill. “When did you plan to tell us? _When did you plan to tell us?_”

“Tell you about what exactly?” He asked, his heartbeat rapidly increasing. It just couldn’t be. They couldn’t have found out.

“Clary.” Simon growled, making his heart stop. “We know everything. We know about what she’s doing.”

“And what is she doing?” He asked again, hiding behind his well built walls. He had to bluff. He had to deny.

“Jace,” Alec walked to him as well. “Simon and Izzy heard her talk to Jiliel yesterday evening.”

“What has this to do with me?”

“Maybe this will help jog your memory.” Magnus said, handing him the book with the Kohl poison description. “And just so you know, if you try to leave I’ll turn you into a toad. I always wanted to do it to someone, sooner or later.”

The book was familiar to him. Six months earlier he found it in his desperate research of a way to free William and looking at it he felt sick all over again. They knew, they really knew. They heard Clary and somehow they connected the dots.

When he didn’t say anything, Alec came closer and put a hand on his arm. “Jace, we can help. We know Clary is spying for the Seelie Queen. We know she’s threatening you or maybe all of us. We know you’re trying to get Kaelie to help you. Let us in Jace. You don’t have to do this alone.”

The book fell on the floor and suddenly Jace felt all his strength abandon him. He wanted nothing more than to confide in his siblings, to allow them to support him, but he couldn’t. “Whatever you think you know, you can’t do anything about it. Just leave me and Clary alone.”

“Jace, we have to stop this.” Isabelle didn’t move, but her voice was gentle now. “It’s dangerous. If the Clave finds out, Clary could die.”

“They won’t find out unless you tell them about it.” He wasn’t looking at any of them, his eyes fixed on the ground.

“We can’t let this go on.” Alec told him quietly. “The fairies are obviously getting ready for war. We have to warn the Nephilim. And you know we’re more than ready to face any threat on our life. Will—” his voice broke for a second, then he composed himself. “He was a child. We’re not helpless like he was, we can protect ourselves.”

When Jace didn’t say anything, Simon stood directly in front of him. “Do you even know what Clary is going through right now?”

“Yes, Simon, I know.” Jace answered through clenched teeth. He hadn’t before, but he did since the previous night. And he could understand Simon’s anger all too well.

“Really? Because I don’t think you get it. The bastard has been _raping_ her. Since _months_. And where were you all this time? Why didn’t you do anything? Why did you let your wife—”

“I didn’t _know_! She just told me last night, damn it!” Jace grabbed Simon by his shirt, growling in his face and letting some of his anger and frustration out. “Do you think if I knew I would have let her move out of here? Be at his disposal? And now Clary wants me to do nothing about it! I can’t do anything to spare her!”

“To hell with that, if you won’t then I will! I won’t let my _parabatai_ be blackmailed and raped while her husband is watching and doing nothing!”

“You talk to anybody about this, you try to approach Clary or Jiliel and I’ll kill you Simon.” He was as pale as a ghost now, but his grip on Simon was firm.

“Jace, are you crazy?” Isabelle cried, grabbing his arm and trying to make him release her fiancè. “Why would you—”

“_Because they have my son!_” He shouted before being able to stop.

Everybody looked at him wide eyed and when he realised his mistake he let Simon go and turned away.

“What?” Alec whispered, taking a step to him.

“William is alive.” Jace told them, his voice empty of emotions. There was no use in lying to them now. “He’s alive but he’s prisoner in the Seelie Court.”

Isabelle sat down, shocked. “But—the funeral—”

“That’s why Clary and I insisted on not burning his body. There was no body. You saw an empty coffin.”

***

_“He’s dying Jace, we are losing him.”_

_Clary was crying, sitting beside her sleeping son. William was pale, his head resting on his mother_ _’s lap, his blond hair dump with sweat. “I can’t let that happen. I’ll go to the Seelie Queen and ask about the message she sent us.”_

_“You know it’s a trap.” Jace was sitting on the floor, his back leaning against his son’s bed, the sleepless nights showing in the dark circles below his eyes._

_“What choice do we have? Nobody knows what’s killing Will. I won’t let our son die!”_

_There was really nothing Jace could say to make her change her mind and deep in his heart he didn_ _’t want to. He didn’t want to lose his kid._

_But of course it had been a trap. With the Seelie Queen there was always a catch._

_“Jonathan Herondale and Clarissa Morgenstern.” She greeted them when they were escorted into her throne room._

_“My son. Tell me how to save him.” Clary said with determination._

_The Queen merely smiled like she was expecting the bluntness and the question. _ _“You can’t save him. Your son isn’t ill, he was poisoned.”_

_There was a stunned moment of silence, then Jace lunged forward ready to strike. The Queen stopped him, raising her hand. _ _“Injure me, kill me and you won’t leave the Court with the antidote. There is no medicine save what I can give him.”_

_Jace stopped dead, his seraph blade already out of the sheath. _ _“There is always an antidote.”_

_“What do you want from us?” Clary asked, her fists shaking in fear. The Queen couldn’t lie. If she said there was no antidote, then all hope was lost._

_The fairy looked at them with hatred now. _ _“You are the reason my people is disgraced. You are the ones who killed Sebastian Morgenstern. You killed my lover. And now you’ll pay.”_

_“Then save my son and kill me.” Clary told her, not afraid to die. “I’m the one who killed Sebastian. I’m the one who should pay for that.”_

_“I don’t intend on killing you, Nephilim.” The Queen looked at her and smiled. “Death is easy. Death is final. You die and then you’re at peace. No. Your punishment will be worse than that.”_

_“I can threaten you as well, my Lady.” Jace said, taking a step to her. “I can point a blade at your throat before any of your knights can do anything about it. And I can kill you, if you don’t cure my son.”_

_“Then go ahead and kill me, Jonathan Herondale. Kill me and kill your son as well because I swear that if I die, so will he. I want my revenge and I’ll have it, one way or the other.”_

_She would do it, Jace realised while paling. She would really die just for the sake of knowing them in eternal pain over William_ _’s death._

_“I offer you a bargain.” The Queen said. “Accept and the child will live. Refuse and he’ll suffer in agony.” When they didn’t reply, she continued. “The antidote to the Kohl poison must be taken daily, every day of your life, to keep the poison at bay. While you take the antidote, you’re perfectly healthy. You stop it, you get sick again. I’ll cure the child if you give him to me. I claim Sebastian Morgenstern’s nephew. He’ll live here with me from now on. He’ll be mine.”_

_“No!” Jace shouted, raising his blade again. “I’ll never give you my son!”_

_“Then he’ll keep suffering till the end.” The Queen replied. “You can look in all the world for a cure, but you won’t find it. Warlocks can’t help. Your Silent Brothers can’t either. I’m the one who can. And I won’t, unless you give me the child.”_

_“But—” Clary weakly started but the Queen interrupted her._

_“I’m not done. I demand to be back under the Covenant, I demand my seat back in the Council. I demand you to vouch for me, Clarissa Morgenstern. You’ll be my eyes and ears and you’ll report to me every Council meeting, every progress you make. And while you work for me, I command you and Jonathan Herondale to be apart.”_

_“What?” Jace whispered, paling even more._

_“You are no more husband and wife. You’re mine to command now, and I wish you to suffer. You won’t hold her again. You won’t be able to love her or protect her. I want you to see each other every day and know you can’t be together, ever again. Sebastian wanted her and he died because of this. Now, nobody will have her again, for the rest of your lives.”_

_The Queen rose up from her throne and looked at them with triumph. _ _“These are my requests, Shadowhunters. Meet them and your child will live, healthy, happy and cared for. Deny me, and you’ll watch him waste away until the poison runs its course.”_

***

“She gave us two doses of the antidote to prove us it would work. She told us Will would be safe for two days but then he would get sick again. She told us there wasn’t much time left.”

Jace was sitting down now, his eyes fixed on the far away wall of the library. His voice was empty as he was telling everything that happened.

“She was right, of course. Will got better for two days, then he got sick again. I searched everywhere for an antidote but every book kept saying the Kohl poison couldn’t be permanently cured and that the plant only grew in the fairy world. In the end we had no choice but to give in to the Queen’s demands. She placed Jiliel with Clary and Kaelie with me, so she would be sure we were keeping our end of the bargain: be apart. She forbid us to leave New York, she said she wanted us to keep seeing each other, to increase the pain. She told Clary to leave the Institute so we wouldn’t be under the same roof at night, when Jiliel or Kaelie couldn’t check on us. I had to see her every day, to act cold in front of you all, to resist touching her, holding her—it was Hell. And then the Queen allowed us to see William, once a month, for an hour. We wouldn’t be able to touch him, to talk to him, he wouldn’t see us at all. But we would, we would know he was alright. And of course, we would see him grow up, knowing he wasn’t ours anymore, knowing we could never hold him again. That’s our punishment for killing Sebastian: be apart, our son torn from us forever. A punishment worse than death.”


	7. Parabatai love

“You stupid idiot!” Isabelle was suddenly hugging Jace’s head, sitting in his lap. Tears were streaming down her face and Simon knew that later she would be pissed that she had cried. “Why didn’t you tell us? Why? We’re your family, Will is my nephew! We could have figured something out, we could—”

Jace gently pushed Izzy out of his lap and stood up, running a hand through his hair. “There’s nothing that can be done, Izzy. Do you think I haven’t tried? Since the Seelie Queen stole my son, I’ve been looking everywhere to find a cure. Without a cure I can’t take William back, or he’ll die. And I was afraid for Max. I couldn’t risk his safety.”

“But why didn’t you tell us? Why act like you and Clary couldn’t stand each other, even here in the Institute?”

“Because,” Jace looked away. “We needed to make you believe the lie. If Kaelie or Jiliel ever asked you any questions… you needed to believe it, Iz. We couldn’t risk the Queen suspecting we were breaking the deal. And it killed us to lie to you, but we had no choice. We had to protect Will and we also knew that learning the truth would have put you all in danger because you would have tried any way to help us.”

“Alright.” Magnus said. It looked like he was the only one still able to properly think right now. “Is our theory right? Are you trying to persuade Kaelie to cooperate? We thought you were dating and that Jiliel made you two meet on purpose, but apparently she’s more of a jailer.”

“Kaelie is a good girl.” Jace said, surprising them all. “She actually has a soul, something her Queen is missing entirely. It started as you said, but the more I was with her, the more I understood her. She doesn’t approve of what the Queen did to William, she’s sorry for me. I’m slowly trying to get her to help me, but it takes time.”

“Do we want to know exactly _how_ are you trying to convince her? And does Clary know?” Isabelle asked, holding her breath.

Jace looked at her for a long time, before finally lowering his gaze. “No. No, you don’t want to. And yes, Clary knows. I would never keep it a secret from her, I could never do this if she didn’t allow it.”

“Ok.” She nodded without adding anything else.

“Jace,” Alec asked quietly, “when was the last time you saw Will? Is he alright?”

He took a deep breath before answering, mostly to keep his voice steady. “Today was the day. I saw him this morning. He grew up a lot since the last time you all saw him... his hair is longer now as well. He was chasing the fairies and laughing. He looked happy, but Kaelie told me he hasn’t said a single word since the day we left him there. He’s healthy but he won’t talk.”

Alec sighed and nodded. “Is there anything else you still haven’t told us? Anything we should know?”

“No,” Jace shook his head. “That’s all.”

“Good, because we need to know everything to be able to help you.” Alec began pacing, rubbing his chin. “So, we have a poison for which we don’t know the cure. That’s the first step, we need to find one. Have you tried looking in the library in Alicante?”

Jace nodded. “Nothing.”

“Alright, I wasn’t expecting anything different. There are at least three other places we can look in: the Silent Brother’s archives, the Praetor Lupus library and the Spiral Labyrinth’s one. And I’ll contact Lily and Maya right away.”

“Alec, if we start looking around and asking questions, the fairies will know Jace told us everything.” Isabelle pointed out.

“I actually doubt we would find anything in those archives anyway,” Magnus said. “We’re talking about the Fey. They are secretive and the few informations we have about them are because the fairies themselves leaked them out. That’s actually one of the reasons I’m hopeful about this: we probably can’t find anything in our books because they are written by humans. They don’t say everything there is to know about the fairies, which makes Kaelie’s help very valuable. I bet a cure exists, we just don’t know about it.”

“Kaelie isn’t our only option. There is another one.” Simon, who had been silent until that moment, looked up at them. “The Unseelie Court.”

Isabelle shook her head. “They don’t involve themselves in Shadowhunters business. They don’t involve themselves in outer world’s business, actually. They just stay there by themselves.”

“And yet maybe we can get them to help us, if we talk to them.” Simon insisted. “They can be secluded but they must have heard about the Dark War and they must know their entire race is disgraced because of that. And according to everything I studied, the Seelie Queen and the Unseelie King don’t talk, they actually despise each other.”

“If you’re wrong and they do talk, it will just get worse.”

“I know Izzy. But seriously, what choice do we have? We have to get William out as soon as possible, because until we don’t, we can’t report this whole situation to the Clave. The Fair Folk is preparing for war and they are obviously using Clary’s reports to know how and when to strike. And when they do, what do you think will happen? The Clave will attack, full force. If we win, William dies because we won’t have the antidote. If we lose, we’ll all be dead. We can’t wait.”

“Simon is right,” Magnus nodded. “Also, consider this: the fairies are patient, so they could even decide not to attack in your lifetime. But then that means that William will live his whole life trapped down there. I don’t think any of us wants this.”

Nobody replied and after a while Simon softly asked “Where’s Clary?”

“I guess she’s at home,” Jace replied. “Probably crying after seeing William this morning. I just hope she’s alone.”

“I’ll go to her,” Simon decided, “and I’ll tell her we know. Clary is the only one who knows about what is going on at the Council meetings and we need her knowledge to try and find out the Seelie Queen plans.”

“Are you sure that’s the best course of action, Simon?”

“Alec, I’m done with the secrets.” He replied. “They only bring pain. I’m done with her suffering alone, she needs to know she can confide in us. We can still act around Jiliel and Kaelie, but I’m not going to let Clary be in pain by herself. She’s my best friend, and my _parabatai_. I’m going to protect her the best I can. Isn’t this the reason you wanted so badly to talk to Jace?”

Alec nodded in understanding then looked at Jace. “The Institute is safe from the fairies, they can’t enter and they can’t spy on us in here. So we’ll use this as our headquarter. Clary can open a portal to our apartment, so nobody sees me and Magnus coming here more often than usual. Is that ok?”

Everybody nodded and then silence fell on the room for some moments, while they were thinking about what they just learnt. William was alive. The little baby they all loved wasn’t lost forever as they thought and they would do their best to have him back.

“Guys—” Jace called out in the end, his gaze on the ground now. “Thank you. I’m glad you know what’s going on. I’m glad you’re here to help. I was dying day after day constantly lying to you.”

“Yeah, like I said, Jace,” Simon unlocked the library door, ready to leave, “you’re an idiot. Like it or not, we’re family and we help each other. We all want William back and we all want to kick that bitch’s ass.”

Jace raised his eyebrow but Simon wasn’t done yet. “And if you’re asking yourself why I included myself in your family, well, that’s because I’m marrying your sister soon. You’ll better get used to the idea because you’ll be my best man. And I swear on the Angel that William will be the stele bearer. If it is the last thing I do.”

He opened the door and then left the library, followed by Isabelle’s outraged cry.

“Simon!”

***

Hearing the doorbell, Clary’s first instinct was to ignore it and just keep staying on her couch, curled up like a baby. When she heard Simon’s voice pleading to let him in though, her body acted on its own and before knowing it she was opening the door. She was a mess and she knew it: her face was pale, streaked with tears, her hair was tangled and she was wearing the most horrible sweatsuit.

Simon walked in without a comment, just looking around. “Are you alone?” He softly asked.

When she nodded, he gently took her in his arms, slowly caressing her hair. “I’m sorry Clary. I’m so sorry you had to face this all on your own. But I’m here now. You’re not alone anymore.”

She looked up in confusion but Simon just smiled, kissing her forehead. “Come sit down. We have a lot to talk about.”

He guided her to the couch, gathered a blanket to wrap around her and then he simply leaned back, making her rest her head against his shoulder.

“Don’t panic now Fray. I promise you there’s no reason to.” He kissed her forehead again before whispering “We know about William. Jace told us.”

Clary’s heart stopped and she started shaking, suddenly gasping for air. She tried to get up but Simon held her against him, raising a hand to caress her cheek. “Isabelle and me heard you and Jiliel yesterday evening. We were just out of the door and we heard everything. Then we connected the dots and this morning Jace confirmed it all.”

“Oh God...” she whispered, feeling empty inside. They knew. They knew she was betraying them all, they knew she was selling her soul, their lives, to the enemy. They knew she’d been lying to them for months.

“We love you, Clary.” He kept going, his voice soft and warm. “That hasn’t changed. That can’t change. You’re my best friend, my pillar, my _parabatai_. I’m here for you, always and forever.”

Her eyes filled with tears again, even though she thought she spent all of them crying for William. She was so tired, so utterly exhausted, tired of living a lie, tired of suffering, of crying, of having her heart broken in pieces every day. And so she cried. She sobbed, wailed, cried out loud, clutching Simon’s shirt and burying her head in his chest. She cried so much that in the end she just had no more tears and all she could do was sob till her throat hurt, till her head began pounding so hard she could barely keep her eyes open.

Simon kept silent, just holding her, gently stroking her arms, her back, her face, until her shoulders stopped shaking and her regular breathing told him she had fallen asleep in his arms. Poor Clary, living in that kind of hell for months. He couldn’t even begin to imagine being torn apart from Izzy that way, able to see her but not to hold her, knowing she was in pain but unable to do anything to help her. Seeing a loved one suffer was the worst of all and Clary had to bear it all alone, knowing that telling anyone would just endanger her son. Having William taken away from her must have been excruciating. He never had children, but he loved that baby, his bright golden eyes, his sweet laughter, his soft hair, the way he felt when he was holding him. And he was just his uncle. The love Jace and Clary had for him was so complete they were willing to sell their soul to protect him. But they wouldn’t have to anymore. They would get William back and soon.

He gently smiled when he felt Clary stirring in his arms after a while and kept caressing her until she opened her eyes again, pain still clouding them.

“Did I fall asleep?” she asked, her voice low and hoarse.

“Just half an hour,” he answered, still holding her. “Do you want to sleep some more?”

“No,” she shook her head, but didn’t move. “I just want to stay like this. It feels good.”

“Then stay. I’ll be here for as long as you want me to.”

Her breathing was slow and even now, her body relaxed in his arms as she allowed herself to rely on someone else’s strength for once.

“Simon, I’m so sorry.” She whispered after a while. “I feel so horrible for lying to you. For lying to everybody. For doing what I did.”

“I just wish I had known it sooner Clary. What happened, what Jiliel is doing to you—I wish I had known.” His voice wasn’t judgemental, but heartfelt and it brought new tears to her eyes.

“I wanted to tell you. So many times. But I couldn’t.” She raised her gaze to him, pale and tired. “You can’t understand how it feels, Simon, to watch your son waste away. I felt him moving in my body for nine months, then he was born and I thought the world couldn’t be more perfect. Every time he smiled, every time he laughed, every time he fell asleep in my arms, I felt complete. And then I saw him suffer, I saw him cry and clutch my hand hoping I would make the pain go away. And I couldn’t Simon, I couldn’t do anything. Every time I thought about telling you, I pictured his face as he was suffering and I knew that I would just make it worse, because I couldn’t really help him.”

“I know,” he whispered, “I know. But it’s over now. We’ll help you get him back, Clary. I promise you, William will be free and healthy. And this will be just an awful nightmare.”

“I don’t know how.” She sighed, closing her eyes.

“Magnus said he’s hopeful a cure exists, that we just don’t know it because all our books are written by humans. I agree with him. I suggested going to the Unseelie Court to get help.”

“But they are still fairies, why should they help us defeating other fairies?”

“Well, I still have to figure out that part of the plan,” he told her while smiling, “but the books say the two Courts aren’t in good relationships. Maybe we can persuade the Unseelie King somehow.”

She didn’t answer and Simon sighed, looking down at her. “Clary, we need to find out what their plans are. We know they are preparing for war, but when will they strike? How?”

“I don’t know. They tried to make me believe they just wanted their place back in the Council but I always knew it was more than that. And there is something going on in the Downworld right now: we received reports about vampires fighting with werewolves, all over the world. The last one came from London, but we got them from everywhere really. At first we thought it was just the old feud between them, but the reports keep coming. We’re on the verge of a full scale war right now.”

Simon nodded. “Chaos. Confusion. Looks like the perfect distraction, isn’t it? If the Nephilim are busy keeping the vampires on track, they won’t notice if the fairies make a move.”

“That’s what I thought as well. That or the vampires allied with the Fair Folk. That would be a lot worse.” She sighed, lowering her gaze. “I've been trying for months to find a way to warn the Clave without exposing myself, but I couldn’t think of anything. Jiliel would know the warning came from me.”

“We’ll find a way. But for now I want you away from this place. Come back to the Institute, Clary.”

She knew why he was asking her to come back: if he heard everything the previous day, then he knew Jiliel was about to rape her when they rang the doorbell. But it couldn’t be avoided. Clary disentangled herself from his comforting arms and shook her head. “Simon, I can’t.”

He frowned. “I won’t leave you here alone with Jiliel. I won’t let him touch you again.”

“You have to. He can’t suspect anything.”

“That’s out of the question, Clary.”

She sighed and took his hand in hers. “Simon, you have to understand. This is the reason I didn’t want anybody to know. We can’t act differently, we can’t change our habits or he’ll know there’s something wrong. So we have to keep the act: this is my apartment, you all think I’m living here to avoid Jace and you all think Jiliel is my loving boyfriend.”

Simon said nothing for a long moment, then he squeezed her hand. “You’re asking me to let him hurt you. Do you have any idea how this makes me feel?”

“I do.” She weakly smiled. “But I can bear it. I can endure everything to have William and Jace back. I’ll go all the way to Hell if needed.”

He sighed knowing there was no way he could persuade her. He knew Clary since they were children and her stubbornness was always a big part of her character. As much as he felt his heart break, he couldn’t go against her; he gathered her in his arms once more and kept her close. “Then I’ll open the door for you. And I’ll be by your side every step of the journey.”


	8. Kaelie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Author's Note:** I'm aware that Kaelie's age was never detailed in the books. I decided it myself based on the fact that the fairies would have never sent a kid to discuss the peace treaty after the Dark War. Since her character was never detailed, I created a personality for her that suited my story. I know she's different from the general view of her character in other fanfictions, but I hope you'll appreciate her all the same.

Kaelie was waiting for Jace to arrive, sitting on the couch. It wasn’t often that he chose to stay the night, but recently it looked like he wanted to spend more time with her. And yet he hadn’t tried to lure her into his bed yet. Maybe he was just saving it as a last resource if nothing else worked.

Kaelie wasn’t stupid or naive—she perfectly knew what Jace was doing: he was trying to make her fall for him, so he could ask her help in getting his son back. The problem was, he was succeeding. Not in making her fall in love, no, she wasn’t stupid enough for that. It just took a glance for anybody to understand there would be no other woman for Jace Herondale save Clarissa Morgenstern; he only had eyes for her. And when, the past week, Jace suggested that maybe he could be moving into Kaelie’s apartment with her, she never replied, knowing it was just part of his plans. At first she was angry, yes. She even thought about allowing it, just to see how far he was willing to go, but she already had an answer for that: he would go as far as necessary for his son. He would move in with her, he would woo her, he would sleep with her and he would pretend to love her. And nothing good would come for her, if she decided to play his game.

She sighed, getting more comfortable and looked around. Kaelie’s place reflected the fairy’s sparkling personality: it was painted in bright colours and the furniture was both extravagant and comfortable. There weren’t many fairies that decided to live outside the Court, but Kaelie loved to stay there, loved the feeling of being independent. Most of all, she just needed some alone time recently, away from the Court and all its problems. Was she becoming estranged to her own people?

She sipped at the glass of wine in her hands and started thinking. So much happened in the last decade and sometimes she couldn’t even remember what her life was before Jace Herondale and his siblings came into it. He went by Jace Wayland of course at the time, when he first walked into Taki’s, a pretty boy of just fifteen years old. He was already pretty confident, his golden eyes sparkling with smugness. She was older than him by nearly a century, but he had something that immediately drew her in like almost no human and certainly no Shadowhunter ever did.

The first time they talked it wasn’t smooth, she remembered; he had this conceited attitude and since she was a Downworlder he actually looked at her like she was some inferior being. It hadn’t taken long though, for him to like her. Actually he liked her so much that one year later she was the first one bringing him back to her place and not letting him go till morning. The morning after he was trying so hard to find the words to tell her it was just a one-night stand (although she had been his first) that she almost laughed, explaining to him that she really wasn’t expecting a relationship, not with someone that young. One-night stands were perfectly fine by her. And from time to time, they still spent nights together when they both felt like it. Until Clary showed up.

When Clarissa Morgenstern had appeared in Jace Wayland’s life, everything had changed. He couldn’t take his eyes off her and Kaelie knew there would be no more nights with him. She told herself it didn’t matter, she told herself he was a Shadowhunter and she could find someone else. She told herself she would move on. And then, when she was ridiculed and threatened in front of the Clave, at the end of the Dark War, she told herself she despised the Nephilim and never wanted anything to do with them again. And that included Jace.

Kaelie sighed again, leaning against the couch and wondering, not for the first time, why the Queen decided to side with Sebastian Morgenstern in a war against the Shadowhunters. She knew she was sleeping with him, but the Queen wasn’t known to let her feelings cloud her judgment. And this was the result: they were outcasts, looked upon with open hostility, and their Queen decided her personal feud with Clarissa Morgenstern and Jace was worth risking the obliteration of their race. She didn’t want to know what would happen when the Clave came to know that the Seelie Queen abducted a Nephilim child and ruthlessly used him to torture his parents. She didn’t want to imagine it, because she already knew the outcome: war, unending war. A war she knew they couldn’t win, a war she didn’t know if she wanted to win. She hated what she was doing. Revenge was one thing and the fairies were known to be cruel, but using an innocent child was too much for her.

_Maybe I spent too much time with the humans_, she wondered. Or maybe it was because of a certain Shadowhunter. Ever since Jace came back into her life, she never stopped questioning what she was doing, something new for her. She never said a word when the Queen started sleeping with Sebastian Morgenstern. Or when she saw her brother raising his blade against the Nephilim. She never said anything when her kind helped capturing and Turning the Shadowhunters in the Dark War. She was loyal to the Queen, loyal to the Fey.

But that was before William. That was before she was made an accomplice in stealing a child from his parents. And yet, she should be used to it. Wasn’t it a custom for the Fey to steal a healthy human child and replace it with a weak one of their own? Wasn’t it necessary for the strengthening of the Fairies bloodlines? Not even the Covenant Law condemned that. And yet this had nothing to do with the tradition of creating a Changeling.

The doorbell interrupted her thoughts and she rose up shaking her head. She was thinking too much. She had a task and it was to make sure Jace would keep his end of the bargain with the Queen. It was just damn hard to keep being his jailer. It made her feel filthy.

Opening the door, she saw what she expected: Jace looked devastated. His face was pale, his eyes red, his frame unusually empty of life. She softly told him to come in and he settled on her couch without a word, keeping his gaze down. She never saw him so quiet and shattered, except when he came back from his monthly visit to William. Sitting down beside him, she handed him a glass of her wine and then just waited for him to talk.

“I’m not on my best right now, I’m sorry.” He whispered at last, taking her hand. “Seeing him is hard.”

She nodded, slowly caressing his arm in a comforting gesture. “Maybe you should stop going. It’s only hurting you more.” And yet, wasn’t this what the Queen wanted? For him to suffer? She shouldn’t try to ease his pain at all.

Jace shook his head, closing his eyes in exhaustion. He really was tired, the whole day had taken all his strength. He had hope now that his family knew what was happening and yet his heart was still aching. “I can’t, Kaelie. He’s my son. I need to see him, I need to know he’s alright.”

“The Queen won’t hurt him, you know that.”

He bitterly smiled, allowing the pain to show in his voice. “Your Queen already hurt him. And I believe her perfectly capable of doing it again. She’s just waiting for a new opportunity.”

“As long as you and Clarissa keep your end of the bargain, no harm will come to the child. The Queen promised.”

“I know you’re faithful to her,” Jace smiled at her, trying to look affectionate. “But she poisoned my son. She imprisoned him. She tore him away from me and from his mother and now William won’t talk because of it. He’s in shock, he misses his parents.”

“You know I don’t approve of her actions.” She told him quietly. “But she’s still my Queen. I have no say in her decisions.”

“You’re a good girl, Kaelie. You have a heart, something most of your people miss.”

That was it. Kaelie bit the inside of her cheek and sighed, coming to a decision. Playing that game with him was starting to hurt her. She knew his smiles were fake, she knew that when he was holding her hand he really wanted to hold his wife. She knew that every time he kissed her, since that awful story started, he pictured Clary in his mind. She needed it all to stop now, before she started to hate him for deceiving her so well that she could almost believe him.

“A heart you’re trying your best to charm. Too bad it’s all fake.” She said at last, almost whispering. Somehow she found the strength to smile when he sharply turned to her. “You forget I’m much older than I look, Jace. I’m not completely naive.”

“I never thought you were.” He commented, feeling his heart missing a beat. She saw through it, he hadn’t been good enough. Was it over? Was this the moment Kaelie would laugh in his face telling him it was all for nothing? Was this the moment he had to take the final step and keep bluffing, taking her to his bed to convince her?

But Kaelie didn’t laugh or mock him. She just squeezed his hand and looked at him with pity. “I know what you’re doing. I would do it too, if I were in your place. But you have to understand that I can’t help you the way you want me to. I can’t take the child away. That would be treason.”

“That would be for nothing.” Jace slowly answered, dropping every act. Apparently that was the revelation day, first his family, now Kaelie. She knew everything and if he wanted to gain her cooperation he had to be sincere. She was willing to listen for now, so he would talk. “Even if I managed to sneak William out the Court, he would die without the antidote. I need to find a cure first.”

The pixie shook her head. “There is no antidote that I know of. The only one is the tea he’s already drinking every day. And the plant won’t grow outside our kingdom.”

Jace bit his lower lip, thinking fast. Could he trust her? Could he risk telling her something that could be used against him, against his family? Or was this just an act to find out what he’s been plotting so she could tell the Queen? He had to be cautious.

“There is no antidote that _you_ know of.” He said at last. “But maybe—” He left the phrase hanging, waiting for an answer. The ball was in her court now.

Kaelie didn’t say anything and after a few moments she stood up, walking to the table to pour herself more wine. She turned around so he couldn’t see her face and leaned her hands on the table. Jace waited. He knew she was thinking, weighing her options, deciding where her loyalty stood. This was a turning point and he didn’t want to rush anything, scared she would back off if he tried to force her. The minutes passed and he dared not even move, just looking at the fairy and hoping against all hopes that she decided to help him. If she didn’t and reported what he tried to do, he was in trouble. And yet he exposed neither Clary nor his family, it could look like he was the only one trying to find a way out of that damn trap. The risk was minimal and it had to be taken.

Then Kaelie sighed and lowered her gaze on the table, still not turning to him. “The Fey are an ancient people, Jace. We were here way before humanity appeared and we stayed, through thin and thick, throughout all the ages of men. We survived wars, calamities and demons. We were respected and humans told tales about us to their children, calling us The Little People, fearing our powers but happy we existed because we made them dream about wonderful worlds and great adventures.”

She turned around looking at him and he could see her eyes were cold and distant. His heart sank as she continued. “Then Jonathan Shadowhunter summoned Raziel and it all changed. He made up the term “Downworlder” to call us, the vampires, the werewolves and the warlocks and we became targets, prey to hunt like the demons, all to gain the spoils. And yet we _still_ survived. It was never the same though, for in the eyes of Nephilim we weren’t worth consideration, we were regarded as inferior beings. Valentine Morgenstern took this vision to its far end, wishing to obliterate us and everyone who wasn’t Nephilim or human. And then his son allied with us to vanquish the Shadowhunters who mocked us for their entire life. I can see why the Queen found it appealing, like it was a sort of comeback at our former glory.”

Kaelie sipped at her glass of wine and when she looked at him her eyes were unsure, like she was still battling with herself. “Now she wants another war, mostly to avenge Sebastian Morgenstern, but also to show the world we aren’t pariah, that we’re a force to be reckoned with. She will never consider backing off, she’s blinded by hatred. I, on the other side, am not.”

As she was talking, her tone changed, from unsure to steady, her eyes clearer, her frame standing straight and proud. “Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not fond of the Nephilim. Most of them still look at us as trash, just because they have Raziel’s blood in their veins. But I don’t want another war: we lost many warriors last time, many fey children, and we still have to recover from that. If we fight now and we lose, our race could suffer a blow so fierce that it would take centuries to rise again. I doubt the Shadowhunters would stand two rebellions in less than a decade and I’m not willing to take that risk. So I’ll help you.”

Jace sprang on his feet, his mouth open to talk but Kaelie stopped him. “I’ll help you _if_ you promise me there will be no consequences for my people, after this is over. I don’t want another humiliating peace treaty where the Fey are deprived of any dignity. I want us back under the Covenant, I want the restrictions of these past seven years lifted. I want things back like they were before the Dark War. That’s my price: help me save my people and I’ll help you save your son.”

He was tempted, so tempted to promise her on the spot, just to have her help. But he was an honest guy, and she was putting everything on the line. He wouldn’t trick her now. “I’m not the Consul, Kaelie. I can promise I’ll do my best, but I can’t assure you it will be enough. I’m not even in the Council.”

“I know.” She sighed. “You’re just a voice in the Clave, but you have important connections: your wife is in the Council, Maryse Lightwood is the head of the New York Institute and Robert Lightwood is the Inquisitor. They love you like a son and they’ll listen to you. Lucian Graymark is your father-in-law and the werewolves representative in the Council. And Catarina Loss, the Warlocks representative, is friends with Magnus Bane, and you can talk to him. So I can only hope it will be enough. But I want your word that you’ll do everything you can to spare my people from further humiliation.”

He slowly walked to her and put his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. She was scared but she was determined as well, and he admired her for this. And as much as he hated the Fair Folk for what they did to him, he wasn’t ready to give up his only chance of saving his son to get revenge against them. “I swear on the Angel that I’ll try everything I can to help the Fey. I swear I’ll be their voice in the Clave until they have their own back in the Council. And I swear I’ll protect you Kaelie. You’re risking a great deal for your people and for me, and this won’t be forgotten.”

She nodded and then took a step away, letting his hands fall on his sides. She knew what she just did: stopping every pretence she just let go of Jace forever, giving up every possibility of having a future with him, fake or not. But he was never hers to begin with, she reminded herself. And one man, even Jace Herondale, wasn’t worth risking the future of the Fey.

“I’m not sure a cure for your son exists,” she told him, “but if it does, I’ll find it. And if I can’t, then I’ll make sure that William never runs short of the antidote, even if he’s not in the Court anymore. Give me time to research, and when I’ll have some news I’ll tell you.”

“Thank you Kaelie.” He meant it. He meant his oath, every word of it and he would do everything to keep it. He silently thanked the Angel for sending Kaelie on his way, even though he had hated her with a passion when this all started: he thought she would be someone to crush, someone to trick in order to get what he wanted. He would have had no remorse in bedding her, even though it would break his heart to betray Clary like that. And yet, instead of a cruel jailer he had found an ally, a fierce fairy willing to risk everything out of love for her people. Much like he was willing to do for William.

“You should go now,” she whispered, her eyes shining with tears. She didn’t even know why she was crying. She wasn’t in love with Jace. She _wasn’t_.

He looked at her eyes and his expression softened. She watched him raise a hand to cup her cheek, brushing it gently and then she closed her eyes as he gave her what she would never admit she wanted, just once more before it was all over. When his lips left hers, after a sweet and gentle kiss, he leaned his forehead on hers, his deep golden eyes fixed in her blue ones.

“Thank you.” He whispered on her lips before leaving her and walking to the door.

“Kaelie.” He called once again, a hand on the knob. “You know all of this means we’ll have to remove the Seelie Queen from her throne.”

You know we’ll have to kill her, was the implicit sentence. Because the Queen would never willingly give up her kingdom.

She looked at him, her hands closed in fists at her sides. When she spoke there was no uncertainty in her voice, no doubt at all.

“I know.”

Jace nodded, looked at her one last time, then closed the door behind him as he left. And Kaelie turned and grabbed the table, scratching the surface with her nails. It was all she could do not to fall on the floor crying.


	9. Rebellion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Author's Note:** warning, strong content toward the end of the chapter!

"You should go.” Clary sighed, looking at Simon with regret. “It’s almost dinner time.”

They had been together the whole day and Clary was exhausted: after six months of keeping every emotion tightly bottled up, the process of finally pouring them all out had been painful. She felt better now of course: she had cried, she had cursed, she had cried some more, but Simon, as always, had proved to be the solid rock she could cling on to. She told him everything: the pain when they first had to take a sleeping Will to the Court and then leave him there, before being thrown out by the Fey knights like they were just common trash. The shame in knowing every word she said in the Council was because she had no choice. The guilt every time she delivered a report to Jiliel, knowing she was betraying her kind. The fear she would have to live that way forever. The only thing she refused to talk about was Jiliel and the way he was treating her. She didn’t want him to know, she didn’t want him to pity her. He was her punishment for betraying them, she always thought of it like that: she deserved everything he ever did to her because she was selling her friends, her world, the people who loved her and even if she felt she had no choice, she still wanted to pay for that.

“Are you sure?” Simon replied softly. “I can stay all the time you want, Clary.”

“Jiliel is coming here soon.” She saw his face turn into stone and she held his hand. “Please Simon, you promised. For William’s sake. Please.”

“Can’t you tell him you’re out with me? With Izzy? With _anyone_?”

“I was already out yesterday. And he knows I never leave the apartment the day I see Will. It’s the reason he comes here every time: to gloat.”

“What a bastard...” he hissed in frustration. “I’m not sure I can do this, Fray. Leaving you here with him.”

She closed her eyes, trying not to give in. She wanted nothing more than letting Simon protect her, but she couldn’t. “The best thing you can do right now, is help us finding a way to save William. It’s all I care about. My son. I can bear Jiliel, I can bear being turned back into a mundane, I can even bear dying or becoming a Forsaken after the Clave strips my Marks... but I need to know Will is safe.”

“Clary—” he started, but she put a finger on his lips, her eyes now shining with tears.

“Go, before I lose my strength and ruin everything. Please, go.”

He hugged her fiercely, burying his face in her red curls. “We’ll find a way, I promise. Just a little longer Clary. We’ll find a way.”

She nodded, trying not to cry and when Simon got up and walked out of the door he never looked back at the woman he was leaving behind. He would never leave otherwise.

***

Clary heard the key in her front door half an hour after Simon had left and Jiliel walked in with a large smile. Clary turned around to get a beer from the fridge, repressing the instinct of snatching the key out of his hands and shove him back in the corridor.

“So how was your day darling?” He asked grinning, taking the beer from her hand and drinking a long draught. For being a fairy he surprisingly liked mundane stuff more than his own.

“Next question?” She replied, turning around and walking away a few steps, keeping the table between them.

“Touchy, aren’t we? I wonder why.” He grinned again, placing the beer on the table. “Do you want me to make your day better?”

“Please do,” Clary said, a murderous look in her eyes. “Drop dead right now and I’ll instantly feel overjoyed.”

Jiliel laughed and turned around, going to sit on the couch. “So, how’s the little brat? Insufferable as usual? Still missing mommy?”

She bit her lip, willing herself not to answer but that didn’t stop the fey. “And how’s your precious husband? I heard today you were escorted by my sister. Did he tell you that he’s planning to move in with her? Maybe you weren’t this amazing if he’s moving on so fast. Or maybe my sister is just a better fuck than you ever were.”

“You’re as charming as usual, Downworlder.” She spat, knowing he hated the epithet. “Now, if you’re done gloating, that’s the door.”

“Oh, not so fast Clary.” He hissed, his eyes glacial after her insult. “Come here.”

“I don’t think so.” She replied, equally cold.

“Come here, _now_.”

“Fuck you.”

He was standing in the blink of an eye and suddenly he sprang towards her, throwing the table aside and attacking her. But Clary was ready. She never dared fighting him, always too scared for William to rebel. But now Simon knew. All her friends knew. She wasn’t alone anymore. And even though she knew it was wrong, that it was like declaring something changed, she just couldn’t take it anymore. She wouldn’t go down without a fight this time. She felt the power of her runes coursing through her body and the familiar thrill for a battle made her smile. She punched him right in the face, feeling instantly good and when he looked at her with surprise she laughed.

“So you want to play, little Nephilim?” he growled, drying the blood from his nose. “Let’s have some fun then.”

Fighting him for the first time in all those months was liberating: with every punch, with every kick, she felt a part of her rise up again from hell. She was Clary Herondale, a Shadowhunter, not some toy that Jiliel could easily play with and then discard. She lost herself in a blur of jumps, kicks and sweat, enjoying every time she felt a grunt of pain from her opponent and when she finally pinned him down, the broken beer bottle ready to slit his throat, she panted in satisfaction, her eyes shining for the first time in months.

“So fighting turns you on, sweetheart? Had I known that, I would have let you do it more often.” Jiliel gasped underneath her. They were both covered in blood, bruised and beaten, but the fairy was laughing. “Come on, kill me. Slit my throat.”

“You think I won’t do it?” She smiled, the glass coming down more and more. The strength rune was giving her the power to move her wrists even if Jiliel had them in his hands and was trying to move them away from him.

“Oh yes, I know you’d like that.” He grinned, looking at her straight in the eyes. “And then I’d like to know how you’ll explain to the Queen that you killed her favourite Knight.”

“You overestimate yourself. Do you really think she would be so upset? Tomorrow she’ll have a new Knight and she won’t even remember your name.”

“Maybe.” He shrugged, not releasing his hold on her wrists. “Or maybe she’ll suspend the antidote on your son and make you watch as he horribly suffers for your rebellion.”

Clary froze and the blood left her face, while Jiliel laughed some more. “I never thought I would see this day though: Clarissa Morgenstern forgetting her son long enough to try and kill me. Well done, Valentine’s daughter.”

She tried to get up but Jiliel took advantage of the moment to roll on the floor taking her with him. She let the bottle go and found herself pinned down, her hands above her head.

“Nice little fight, Clary.” He smiled, moving himself to stand between her legs and grinding his hips against her. She turned her face in disgust as he was obviously aroused. “It was pleasant to finally see some fire in you. But believe me, spill my blood again and I’ll gift you a box with your son’s little fingers in it.”

“Don’t you dare to touch him, you bastard!” She wiggled beneath him but he just strengthened the hold on her wrists, almost breaking them.

“The Queen doesn’t really care if the brat is in one piece or not, darling... she can still use him like she needs to. All that matters is that he’s alive.”

Clary’s eyes widened, her heart missing a beat. “She’s using him? What... What is she doing with my son? What does she want with him?”

Jiliel laughed, a hard, cold laugh that sent shivers down her spine. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

He sprang up and grabbed her so she would stand up as well. “You and I, we have an interesting night to spend ahead of us. As much as I enjoyed our little sparring, you need a lesson in obedience dear. And I’ll be very glad to give you one.”

_“What is she doing with my son?”_ She cried, aiming another punch on his face. He intercepted her fist and spun her around pressing her back on his chest, one arm on her throat starting to choke her.

“You’re free to imagine, love. Imagine your little kid crying, imagine him bruised, alone, closed in a dark room maybe. Imagine him scared, crying out for a mother that can’t help him. I want you to dream about it at night, I want you to hear his desperate screams every minute, awake or asleep.”

He walked her to her bedroom and threw her on the bed. She coughed trying to breathe again but the fey was already on her, binding her wrists together and securing them to the headboard.

She looked up, more scared than she had ever been. She didn’t care about what Jiliel was going to do to her, William was the only one that mattered. Was he suffering? Was he in pain? Was it true the Queen was using him for something? But what could it be?

“You’re lucky the little pest is Sebastian Morgenstern’s nephew.” He grinned, starting to undress, a glint of pure malice in his eyes. “If he hadn’t been related to him he’d be already dead. Would you have ever thought that having his same blood in your veins would have saved your son’s life? Amusing, isn’t it?”

With a swift motion he shredded Clary’s shirt, uncovering her pale skin and then proceeded to take off her jeans leaving her in her underwear.

“He’s just a child, leave him alone!” She cried trying to get free, desperation making her pull at her bindings until her wrists were bloody and in throbbing pain.

Jiliel just laughed, retrieving his belt from his clothes on the floor and looking at her, lust and cruelty filling his eyes. “That’s what you get when you cross the Seelie Queen, dear. And now it’s time for your little lesson. Please, please Clary, make sure you don’t learn too fast—I want to have fun with this.”

***

She woke up the next day, naked, alone and untied. There wasn’t a single inch of her skin that wasn’t black or blue, even breathing was hard. Across the tender flesh of her shoulder there now was an angry red scar, burnt in her back like a brand: an elf arrow, the Fairy symbol she herself designed for the Clave’s insignia.

Clary rolled on the bed and fell on the floor, lacking the strength to pull herself up. Her stele was in her purse so she crawled her way to the bedroom door, clenching her teeth every time she moved, pain erupting everywhere. Her living room was a mess due to the previous night’s fight, the table was upside down and there were glass shards everywhere. Moaning in pain Clary slowly reached the entrance leaving behind a small trail of blood where shards were scratching her body and when she finally reached her purse she paused a second to catch her breath before starting to draw _iratze_ after _iratze_ on her bruised skin. She lacked the strength to apply a better healing rune, like the one she had given Jace so long ago, one that would make the branding fade away. She couldn’t stand to keep it, like a slave.

When she felt she could at least stand up without falling on the floor, she staggered to the bathroom, opening the warm water from the shower and leaning against the cold tiles, letting the hot drops fall on her skin until she was drenched. A sob escaped her lips and then she suddenly found herself on her knees, the warm water pattering on her back making her flinch in pain, the images of the previous night flooding her mind. She cried and cried, pouring out all the suffering, all her anger, everything, until she was finally too exhausted to keep crying. When she got up, her eyes were empty, her mind blank save for one thought: whatever the Seelie Queen was doing to William, she needed to stop it. And then she would kill her and Jiliel with her bare hands, ripping out limb after limb until they cried for mercy.

_And when they do, I’ll show them the same mercy they showed me and my family. You were right brother, there’s a dark heart in me, hidden underneath the Angel’s blood. They will regret to ever have crossed Valentine’s daughter. I swear on the Angel, they will regret it._


	10. Sisterhood

The noise was loud and it wasn’t stopping, Clary faintly realised, trying to open her eyes. She almost fainted on her bed previously, her body still covered in bruises; it would take the day and some more _iratze_ to heal, even though Shadowhunters were fast healers. Focusing on the noise, she finally recognised it as someone knocking on the door, almost breaking it down actually. It was still painful but she managed to get up and cover with a dressing gown before slowly walking to the hallway. She wanted to make sure the brand on her shoulder was hidden.

“Clary!” She heard shouting from outside. She bit her lip, pondering what to do but then sighed and opened the door.

Isabelle was there, her hand raised to knock again but when she saw her, she paled and slowly lowered it. “By the Angel, Clary—”

Clary didn’t reply just turning around and walking to the couch where she sat down trying not to moan in pain. Isabelle walked in, taking in the destruction in the living room, the table, the glass shards everywhere.

“The bastard did this, right?” Izzy sat down beside Clary, carefully touching her swollen face and then took out her stele to heal her. “I wish Simon was here,” she muttered. “His runes are better than mine with you.”

“If it weren’t you, I wouldn’t have opened the door.” Clary whispered feeling the pain lessen. “I don’t want him to see me like this.”

“He would have broken the door down.” Isabelle commented. “When you didn’t come to the Institute this morning we were all worried but I convinced the boys it was better if I came here alone. If they found Jiliel here with you I don’t think they would be able to stop themselves.”

“And you can?” Clary sighed, closing her eyes and leaning against the couch.

“I’m good at hiding my emotions. Did that for years, remember? And I know how to wait for the best moment to strike. Even though,” she continued, anger filtering in her voice, “I wish that moment was right now. What happened?”

Clary didn’t answer for a long time, then she opened her eyes, looking at the dark haired beauty. “Izzy, I’m sor—”

“I don’t want to hear it.” The girl interrupted her, raising her hand. “I don’t want to hear how sorry you are. I don’t want to hear you didn’t have a choice.”

She was looking at Clary with anger, her body stiff, her lips tight into a white line. “There is always a choice, Clary. You could have told us when it happened and spared us all, but mostly yourself and Jace, six months of agony. We could have helped! We could have found a way sooner! And maybe now you wouldn’t be here, black and blue, beaten and bloody and Will would already be home where he belongs.”

Clary lowered her eyes, not finding in herself the strength to be angry. “We thought—”

“I know what you thought. You thought there was no way out and that if we didn’t know then we would be safe from the Seelie Queen. But nobody is safe, Clary. When the war starts, nobody will be safe. We need to be prepared for this and you guys not telling us just had the effect of making us walk into a war blind and deaf.” Isabelle took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “Enough of this. I’ll kick your and Jace’s sorry ass into next month when this is all over, but right now I need to know what happened here. Tell me.”

“I fought. He wanted to sleep with me and I fought.” Clary started talking, trying to keep her voice as plain as possible. Maybe if she just poured everything out fast, it would be easier. “I never did before, but knowing I wasn’t alone anymore gave me strength. I was about to kill him when he reminded me of William and told me he wouldn’t get the antidote if I rebelled.”

“Angel, I want to kill him _so much_.” Izzy hissed, closing her fists.

“Then he tied me up to the bed. And then...”

“And then this happened.” Isabelle said, pointing at her body, not really needing to hear the words. She badly wanted to hug her friend, to squeeze her and make her feel better, but she was afraid to hurt her, to worsen the bruises.

“He’s always rough, but tonight he was furious. I think me beating him up, me almost killing him, actually made him understand that William is the only reason he’s still alive. He wanted to punish me. He went on all night, never stopping once and when he wasn’t raping me, he was beating me. Before leaving he said he would be back this evening and that he hoped I had learnt my lesson. Or not, so he could do it again.”

“He’s an idiot.” Isabelle swallowed at the almost casual voice Clary used while talking about her own rape and torture. Was this going on since so long that it was almost normal for her now? And how could they have been so blind? Some friends they were. “How did he think you would explain all of this to us?”

“He thought I would hide until I was healed. Which is what I did, because it’s what I would have done if you still knew nothing.”

“By the Angel, this is so messed up.” Izzy got up, running her fingers through her hair. “Now I know how Simon felt when he came home yesterday and had to leave you here. When he learns what happened, he will go crazy.”

“You can’t tell them!” Clary looked at her, alarmed. “Please, they can’t know. That’s why I didn’t want anybody to see me.”

“And yet you let me come in.” Isabelle noted, narrowing her eyes.

“I know you’re not one to give up. If I didn’t open the door you would have alerted everyone and it would have been worse.” Clary smiled but it was a sad one. “And you’re strong. You understand that I have to do this, even if it repulses me.”

“But I can’t just let this go. They need to know what that beast is doing to you.”

“Izzy,” Clary pleaded. “I can’t let Jace know. I already made a mistake in telling him that Jiliel is—” She swallowed. “It’s already too hard for him like this. I won’t add on his burden. He can’t protect me and it would kill him.”

Isabelle was silent for a few minutes, her fists clenching and releasing but then she bowed her head. “Alright. It’s your choice and I will respect it. But this only adds to the pain I’ll inflict the bastard before he dies.”

Clary sighed in relief, even though her heart was heavy. Jiliel would be back in the evening and she wanted nothing more than run away, but she couldn’t. Then she raised her gaze again, gathering what was left of her courage. “Iz, there’s something else. There is something going on with William.”

The girl sharply turned to her. “What?”

“I don’t know. But yesterday Jiliel told me the Seelie Queen is using William for something. And I don’t think he was talking about the blackmailing. She actually needs him but I don’t know why. He said that if he wasn’t Sebastian’s nephew he would be already dead—that having his blood saved him. He told me he’s suffering, that he’s crying, that—” Clary stopped, drawing a deep breath and trying not to cry. “I have to stop her. Whatever she’s doing, I have to stop her. I just don’t know how. Maybe Simon was right, maybe we should go to the Unseelie Court and see if—”

“Clary,” Izzy interrupted her,” Kaelie agreed to help.”

The red head suddenly stood up, biting her lips at the pain in her legs. “She did?”

“Yes.” Isabelle nodded. “Last night Jace went to talk to her and managed to convince her.”

Clary paled and slowly sat down again, her eyes void of emotion. “That means he—”

“No.” Isabelle sat down beside her. “No, he didn’t. He told us he didn’t have to. Kaelie saw right through his attempt of making her fall for him and still accepted to help, in exchange for our help in the Council, so that the Fairies won’t be punished when this is all over.”

“Not punished?” Clary shouted, anger filling her voice. “They tortured my son! They forced me to betray the Clave! They—”

_“Clary.”_ Isabelle took her by her shoulders, careful not to hurt her. “I know. I don’t agree either. But we need Kaelie’s help, even more now after what you told me. Let’s think about punishments _after_ we have Will back.”

Clay swallowed and tried to calm down, her eyes closed. “It’s just... I want to kill her, Izzy, I want to wipe the Seelie Queen away from existence... it’s scaring me. I never felt that much like my father’s daughter as I’m feeling now. I have so much hatred in me I feel it’s going to consume me. And I don’t want my son to have a monster as his mother.”

“William has a heroine for a mother.” Isabelle took her hands in her own. She wasn’t smiling, she was worried and angry. And her words weren’t comforting, they were harsh but true, just like Isabelle herself was. “You bore this all alone for months Clary, doing what you thought was best for your son. You’re allowed to feel hate, to be angry and to want to act on it. Actually you _have_ to be angry or you won’t see it through the end. You need to let it all out if you don’t want to be crushed. So get yourself together and direct that anger where it needs to be: to kick that bitch’s ass.”

“I wish it was that easy. Sometimes I don’t even recognise myself. I look in the mirror and I think I’ll never be the one I was before... a mother to my son, a wife to my husband. Izzy, I can’t even look at Jace now, every time I try I feel _his_ hands all over me. It makes me feel so filthy, so unworthy of ever be loved again—”

“Now don’t be an idiot.” Isabelle cut her short, squeezing her hand. “You’ve been raped Clary. For months. It didn’t happen willingly, you’ve been forced into it. I’m actually surprised you let Simon touch you at all, I think I would reject anything remotely male, my brothers included. But maybe, you just don’t see Simon as a man at all.”

She looked at her and then she _winked_. And even tired, bruised, bloody and beaten, Clary laughed. “Well, I’m sure he’s happy enough that _you_ see him as a man.”

Izzy smiled and then sighed. Well, this was it, wasn’t it? She opened her mouth, then closed it again but when she noticed Clary was looking at her with curiosity, she swallowed and just said it. “I guess so, since he asked me to marry him.”

Clary opened her eyes wide and held her breath for a second before laughing out loud and throwing herself into the other girl’s arms. “Oh my God, Izzy! When? How? Oh, it’s awesome!”

“Are you happy about it? Really?”

“Of course I am!” Clary laughed again. “Why wouldn’t I be? By the Angel, this is the best news ever! Did you set a date? Will you get married in Alicante? And the ring! Where’s the ring? I’m sure there is a ring. Simon was born a mundane and he _absolutely_ got you a ring. An engagement ring, not a family ring. Or I’ll kick his ass.”

Isabelle squeezed her friend and suddenly felt her eyes filling with tears. She was really scared about Clary’s reaction but seeing her so overjoyed was wonderful. A huge weight lifted in her heart and she smiled.

“Yes, there’s a ring, but since you still didn’t know, I left it at the Institute. I’ll show you later, it’s so gorgeous! We still didn’t set a date though, but I would like it to be next year.”

“Wonderful! It will be the best party ever. Isabelle Lightwood is getting married, I still can’t believe it!”

Izzy laughed, shaking her head. “Yes, it’s weird, right? Do you remember when Simon and me broke up when he was in the Academy? I honestly would have never thought we would end like this back then.”

“I always knew you would.” Clary said confidently. “You were meant to be, you just needed to stop being so stubborn about it.”

“Hey, it was his fault!” Isabelle laughed. “I even went all the way to the Academy to tell everybody he was my boyfriend. And then he went paranoid and ditched me.”

“Well, I guess now he doesn’t want to ditch you anymore—like, ever.” Clary leaned back on the couch, smiling. “Oh Izzy, I feel better now. Apparently this world still has some good surprise in store for me. You and Simon getting married makes me so happy, it makes me feel at peace. Like it’s a jigsaw piece finally clicking with the others.”

“I was worried you would be sad.” Isabelle said, sighing in relief. “I thought maybe it would remind you—”

“Of Jace and me?” Clary enquired. “Izzy, I could never be sad about your wedding. You’re like my sister! And Simon? He’s my best friend since forever. You two together bring me joy.”

“You’ll stand by me, will you?” Isabelle looked at her with a smile on her lips. “Will you be my maid of honour?”

Clary felt new tears in her eyes while nodding and then hugged her again. “Of course. Of course I will.”

***

It had taken every ounce of will to leave Clary in the apartment that night. Isabelle felt awful. The red head had even refused to go to Magnus so he could help her heal faster, saying Jiliel would have noticed. That son of a bitch, she couldn’t wait to finally face him with her whip in her hands. But now they had to think about William and about what Jiliel said. So the Queen had another reason for taking Will away? Something related to his blood? And yet Sebastian and William had nothing in common: Sebastian had demon blood, Will probably had extra angel blood, given who his parents were. So why would the blood matter? She knew of course that the Queen had been sleeping with Sebastian before he died but somehow she doubted that she wanted William just because he was that monster’s nephew. The Seelie Queen proved many times to be heartless and caring for a child, wanting a reminder of her dead lover, didn’t really suit her. So it had to be something else, something related to the fact that Will was part of his family. But _what_? Isabelle was getting frustrated, knowing something was happening and not being able to do anything about it, was driving her crazy. Of course there was the possibility Jiliel lied to Clary just to hurt her, but Clary told her he was angry at the time. Angry people don’t think about elaborate lies, they tend to blurt out the truth.

“Damn it.” She whispered softly, taking a deep breath. She stopped walking and opened the door to Taki’s, going to sit down at one of the tables. That place held lots of memories, happy and bad. What she treasured more were the times when she was younger, still a child in the Clave’s eyes and her biggest worry was whether or not she would burn the kitchen down while trying to cook. Not even once before meeting Clary and Simon, she thought she would get involved in something as big as the Mortal and Dark Wars, let alone that she would play a primary part in them. She gained a lot but she also lost a lot in those wars; they gave her Simon, but they took Max away as well. Her little brother, he would be a teenager by now, Izzy thought with a sweet feeling of longing. The pain was still there, it would always be there because, as much as everybody tried to tell her otherwise, she still thought she was responsible for his death. If only she believed him when he told her he saw someone climb the Demon Towers...

Sebastian. It was all his fault, that fucking monster. She still hated him, she always would and yet she had to admit he had been the mean through which she had Simon back. Without Sebastian and him kidnapping Jace, Simon would have never had his Mark removed and Asmodeus wouldn’t have been able to take his immortality away. And yet, given the chance, would she change anything? Would she erase Sebastian’s existence to have Max back, knowing she would lose Simon that way? She was honest enough with herself to admit she would probably have never committed to a long term relationship with Simon had he still been a vampire. She wasn’t Alec. The thought of herself growing old while Simon was forever a sixteen years old boy would have been, and still was, unbearable. It left a sour taste in her mouth to know she had to sort of thank Sebastian for giving her back the love of her life. And now apparently she had to thank him for her nephew’s life as well.

“To be someone dead since seven years, you sure have a long term effect.” She mumbled closing her eyes.

“What can I get you?” The familiar voice ripped her out from her thoughts and Isabelle raised her gaze, looking at the blond waitress she was waiting for. She was still unsure if she hated her or not after everything she was told about her, but she was willing to give the fairy the benefit of doubt after she agreed to help them. As for protecting her people, personally Izzy would have been glad to see the whole of the Fairy Kingdom burnt down to ashes, but she could understand the pixie’s love for her kind. She loved the Nephilim as well.

And now it was time to put that new alliance to the test: they needed to know what was going on with William and they needed to know it as soon as possible.

Isabelle smiled at Kaelie. “Let’s talk.”


	11. A well kept secret

The moon was high in the sky that night and Kaelie looked up at it, taking some deep breaths and trying to stay calm. She had every reason to be scared though, as she was planning to go to the Court and spy for the Nephilim. What Isabelle told her had Kaelie deeply worried, because she had no idea of what she was talking about and it shouldn’t have been that way. She knew for a fact—something she immediately told the Shadowhunter—that William was neither injured nor suffering. He actually had an army of nannies, little fairies that kept him entertained during the day and that ensured that he was fed, that he slept and that he enjoyed himself. And at night he was never alone, sleeping with several fireflies fairies on the ceiling and around his bed; he loved them and they were keeping an eye on him as he slept.

What bothered her was that the news Isabelle told her were coming from Jiliel and she knew her brother: he liked to lie, but he wanted his lies to be believable and thus he always mixed in some truth. And if he lied about William being mistreated, then it was possible that the Seelie Queen was indeed using him for something. The problem was that she knew nothing about that while her brother apparently did.

The question was: why? As Jace’s _jailer_ she should be up to date with everything concerning the child. It was scary to know something was going on behind her back: maybe her spy mission was over even before beginning, maybe the Queen never trusted her or maybe she suspected she would betray them sooner or later.

_Well, I still have to do this. I just hope I won’t walk into a trap._

***

Walking in the Court at night was like entering a fairy tale: the lights were dim, a light breeze would make the butterfly curtains gently move and the air was full of delicate whispers, the sound of sleeping fairies. Kaelie always loved walking through the corridors when it was silent, when there were no parties going on, it made her feel peaceful, at home. But that night she was scared, the well known path seemed full of shadows ready to stop her, to grab her and throw her down like the traitor she was. Did she really have to do that? Was it worth it? Was she really positive the Fey couldn’t win that war? After all they wouldn’t be alone in fighting the Shadowhunters and if Clarissa Morgenstern wasn’t an idiot she surely realised that after all the Council meetings she attended to. And yet her heart wasn’t at ease when she thought of the upcoming fight. She knew what everybody kept saying, that there was a world before the Nephilim came along and there would be one even after they would be wiped out of existence, but Kaelie wasn’t so sure it was true: since the battle of seven years ago, tales had been spreading about the eventful journey of Jace Herondale and his friends, tales about the world of Edom, about how it was barren, dead, lost for everyone. And about the dead Shadowhunters that once lived there, that once fought against the same demons that were trying to take their world over. If Edom suffered such a terrible fate because the Nephilim weren’t there to protect it anymore, who could honestly swear the same thing wouldn’t happen to Earth? The Seelie Queen didn’t seem to care. Maybe she thought she would be long dead before anything like that happened, but that was so selfish that Kaelie felt anger just by thinking about that. To condemn a whole world just because she lost a lover—

The fairy stopped moving and hid in the shadows of the corridor, flattening against the wall as fast as she could.

Jiliel. Her brother was there. But Isabelle told her he was supposed to be with Clary—that was actually the reason Kaelie chose that night to go into the Court, she didn’t want her brother around when she was investigating. And yet there he was. And with a sleeping William in his arms. Where was he taking him? What was going on?

Kaelie struggled to keep as silent as possible as she watched her brother walk away, a hand on her mouth to keep herself from making any noise. If he discovered her she would have to come up with a convincing lie about her presence there—that is if finding him with the child wasn’t already enough to condemn her. If he was on a mission for the Queen he would have no remorse in killing her, sister or not. That was Jiliel: ruthless and fiercely loyal to the Seelie Queen. And Kaelie was no match for a warrior like him. She had to be very quiet and very careful if she didn’t want him to find her out.  
The Fey was walking down the corridor, carefully holding the sleeping child. After a while Kaelie recognised the path as the one leading to the Queen’s personal chambers but when Jiliel went in she heard the sound of a door opening, a door she knew couldn’t be there. She was one of the ladies allowed in, so she knew what the chambers looked like, and there was no door in the farthest part of it. And yet, when she peeked in, she saw it slowly closing, a door perfectly hidden in the wall, like it was a part of it. She ran and blocked it from closing, the door soundlessly resting in her hand. So there was a secret passage, one she never knew about. Jiliel really was up to something with the Queen, something that involved Will. Kaelie heard her brother descend some stone stairs and his footsteps faded in the distance before she gathered enough courage to follow him. Left, right, then left again, she was in a part of the Court she never visited. The ceiling looked like made of stone, the walls resembling more and more those of a cave. A faint light was shining at the end of the stairs and when Kaelie reached the bottom she looked around while staying hidden.

It was a big, stone cave, with several shining crystals on the walls and the ceiling, the only source of light. Their colours gifted the room with a faint but precious glint, like they were standing in the middle of a rainbow. Kaelie hid in a dark spot before the last steps and in the farthest corner she saw the Seelie Queen talking to her Knight, her eyes glistening with anger.

“She did what?” She was asking, her voice as cold as the stone walls.

“I taught her a lesson. She won’t dare attacking me anymore.” Jiliel smirked. “I was actually going to her again tonight to make sure she learnt her place, before you called me here.”

“Make sure she keeps her head down,” the Seelie Queen ordered, “but don’t kill her and don’t injure her too much. I need her work in the Council before I hand her over.”

“Yes my Queen. I think I can affirm she hasn’t got the faintest idea about our plans: she still believes we’re trying to get back into the Clave’s good grace and that she’s the one who’s supposed to persuade them.” Jiliel adjusted William in his arms and right in that moment the child opened his eyes and looked around. Kaelie noticed the relief in her brother’s face when he put William down and the kid started walking in the cave like he perfectly knew where he was.  
“Good.” The Queen was saying meanwhile. “If she doesn’t suspect anything, she won’t warn them. Now tell me: how did it go with the Buenos Aires clan?”

“It took me some convincing.” The fairy warrior shrugged. “They weren’t that happy to side with us, but when I mentioned the reward they were suddenly very interested.”

“Of course,” she laughed, “I still have to meet a vampire that doesn’t want to walk in the sun again. Well, except the New York ones maybe. But they are too close to the Nephilim to ask them.”

“The Buenos Aires clan should launch its attack on the werewolves in some days.”

“Perfect.” The Queen nodded. “The werewolves were always the closest ally the Nephilim had, even more now that their representative is married to one of them. Once they are out of the picture, the Shadowhunters will be alone. The warlocks won’t interfere and the vampires are with us. We’re getting closer, my General.”

“According to Clary’s reports, the Nephilim still have no idea that we’re behind the vampire attacks. They think it’s part of the ancient feud between them and the werewolves. They won’t even know what hit them when we attack.”

The Seelie Queen smiled, a predatory glint in her eyes. “Patience Jiliel, we have to be patient. When I strike it will be swift and deadly. I’ll take Alicante down and burn it to ashes, I’ll force the Nephilim to hide like cornered mice, and while we fight by day my allies will attack at night. The Shadowhunters won’t get an hour of rest until they are all dead. Well,” she concluded laughing, “everyone but two.”

“Yes, I suppose those two will stay alive as long as they’re of any use to the vampires. I would have never guessed the Angel’s blood could work such miracles.” Jiliel allowed a hint of doubt in his voice, but he knew it wouldn’t affect the Queen. She was too far gone to care if she was wrong or right and the prospect of making Jace and Clary be tortured for the rest of their lives was too much alluring to allow any doubts in her mind.

“It must be that.” As he expected the Queen looked at him narrowing her eyes, like she dared him to contradict her. “Sebastian said it was Jace himself that told Valentine he fed the vampire with his blood. Before that the Daylighter was a regular vampire and then he could suddenly walk in the light. If you don’t trust Sebastian’s word, then you must trust the scars your sister saw on the boy. They are from a vampire bite and he’s too strong to ever let any of them so close. _He let himself be bitten._ And he would only do that for someone he trusted. The Angel’s blood in his veins must be what turned that boy into a Daylighter. It must be.”

Kaelie held her breath feeling the blood drain from her face: she remembered those scar, she remembered telling Jiliel about them. They were on Jace’s arm and neck and she had seen enough vampire bites in her life to recognise one. Now she knew why her brother had been so interested in that bit of information and it was freezing her on the spot. This was the reason the vampires agreed to help the Fair Folk: the Queen promised them Jace and Clary, the two Shadowhunter with an excess of Angel blood in their veins. With them they could turn everyone of them into a Daylighter.

“One thing I always meant to ask you.” Jiliel looked at the Queen with curiosity. “Is the kid part of the deal as well? After all he has even more Angel blood than his parents.”

“No.” The Seelie Queen took a step forward and gathered William in her arms, supporting him with care. The child didn’t try to go down again but he didn’t hug the fairy either. “I wouldn’t let Sebastian’s nephew be locked up and experimented on for the rest of his life.”

“You’re pretty willing to leave his sister to that fate though.”

“Clarissa Morgenstern is the one who killed him.” She replied, almost hissing. “She deserves that and much more. But the child is innocent. I’ll keep him. He will soon call me Mother, I’ll be the only family he will remember. And besides I need him. If Sebastian was alive it would be different but now William is my only hope. I need him to love her, to take care of her, I need them to have their lives so intertwined that he won’t hesitate to help her in every way possible. I won’t let him go, ever. He’ll live and die as one of the Fair Folk.”

If Kaelie ever had any concern about Will’s well being, now it was wiped away. She knew the look in the Queen’s eyes and it was clear that the woman cared for the little child in her arms. Somehow William conquered her icy heart, carved a spot for himself into it and unknowingly gained his safety in the process. Now only the last, most important question remained: why did the Queen need him? What use could she possibly have for a Nephilim child? And who was “her”?

The Seelie Queen silently turned, keeping William in her arms and the child wiggled extending his hand forward like he wanted to touch something. Kaelie heard him laugh, one of the few sounds William made since he was kidnapped.

“Yes, my little Prince. Let’s go to your sister.” The Queen said, caressing William’s hair.

_Sister? What the_— From where she was, all Kaelie could see was that the Queen was now standing beside a delicate pink marble altar above which a white crystal was set: it was shaped in the form of a long and tall oval, polished and smooth. Although it was opaque it was possible to see that something was inside of it, but Kaelie couldn’t discern what exactly. The Queen leaned the child’s hand against its surface and whispered something Kaelie couldn’t hear.

William’s hand started glowing. It was a soft golden glow, a flowing band that started from his wrist and gently surrounded the crystal drowning it in its golden light. And when the Queen moved a step on the side, making it possible for Kaelie to fully see the altar, the fairy stopped breathing for a second, her eyes widening in surprise.

Frozen and motionless inside the crystal, surrounded by the golden light, a small child no more than six months old was resting. A small child she already met.

Kaelie knew that small frame, she remembered the scarlet short hair around the little face. And even though the baby’s eyes were closed, she knew they would be an amazing green, like the grass in spring.

But that child was supposed to be dead. She was supposed to be dead since almost six years. And yet, even after all that time, Kaelie would have recognised her everywhere. After all she was there when she was born.

The Queen’s biggest secret.

The Seelie Princess.

Sebastian Morgenstern’s daughter.


	12. Breakdown

The Institute never ceased to amaze Clary. It was magnificent to look at and conveyed an intimidating sense of power. She itched to draw it every time she saw it and that surprised her because she hadn’t pick up a pencil since forever.

It had been two days since her last visit there and the last bruises faded that morning after she felt well enough to give herself one of her more powerful healing runes. And Jiliel be damned for not holding back one bit, knowing she would have done exactly that. He hadn’t come back like he said he would the previous night but she wasn’t complaining for sure. Maybe he thought it was more fun this way, threatening to come back to beat her again and then leave her waiting for him all night, jumping at every sound, wondering if the steps in the corridor were his. She hadn’t sleep much and she felt slightly dizzy for the lack of rest and the strength needed to apply the healing rune, but she was satisfied. Maybe when Jiliel branded her he thought not even her runes would help her in healing that, but he was wrong: not a scar remained on her shoulder. And if the rune hadn’t worked, she had been prepared to just cut the skin off her body until no sign remained, even if it meant to be scarred forever, not moving her arm anymore. There was no way she would live her life branded as a property of the Fair Folk. She took a deep breath, trying to find the courage to cross the threshold knowing Jace and all the others were there. There was no need to pretend anymore, no reason to show strength or coldness to deceive her family. She smiled at the thought: her family. She liked to consider them part of her heart, all of them and she hoped the feeling was mutual even after everything she had done. Simon had forgiven her and Isabelle was mad at her but still by her side. Who knew what would Magnus think or Alec; after their rocky start, she had come to appreciate the quiet Shadowhunter, his calm voice, his deep blue eyes that always looked like they could see directly into your soul and she hated to think about how disappointed he was, knowing that Jace and her deceived them all, that they lied for such a long time.

Clary sighed and took the first step inside, closing her eyes. Somehow she felt like it was the first time, like she was just stepping into a new life again, the same way she did all those years ago. She took the elevator and walked to the training room, listening to her own steps in the corridor and suddenly she knew she wasn’t alone anymore.

She felt him behind her, without even seeing him and she smiled, stopping walking and just leaning back. He was there, his chest welcoming her, his arms closing around her shoulders, his hands gently caressing her own.

“I’ve been worried.” Jace whispered, kissing her hair. “Are you alright?”

“Now I am.” She answered, her voice no more than a feeble breath of air. “But I missed you.”

His hold tightened around her. “When you didn’t come yesterday, I almost barged in your apartment. Isabelle convinced me not to but when she came back later, she refused to tell me what happened.”

“Jace please—” She tried moving but he was holding her too hard.

“Tell me.” He whispered in her ear, kissing it slowly. His lips were warm, soft and gentle and Clary felt a shiver down her spine and sighed.

“Don’t ask me. Please, just don’t.”

“Did he hurt you again? Did he touch you again?” He was tracing her jaw now, going up and down, kissing her cheek and the corner of her mouth.

“It’s not your burden.” She whispered, trying to keep her voice under control. “I don’t want you to bear it.”

“Nothing about you will ever be a burden. I’m here for you, I’ll always be here for you.”

Clary swallowed closing her eyes and biting her lower lip. It was so good to be in his arms again, so calm and reassuring, like nothing could ever hurt her when Jace was standing guard. She didn’t want to think about anything else, not now. She wanted to breathe him in, to feel him, to trace his face with her fingers, to learn again every line, every curve of his body.

“Kiss me.” She whispered. “That’s all I want. Kiss me. Claim me. Teach me again that I’m yours, that nothing matters but us.”

It was a desperate plea but one she had to make, after what happened with Jiliel, after what he did to her. She needed to erase his touch like no shower could ever do, she needed Jace to take her so completely that she wouldn’t even remember the fairy’s name. Forget everything, she wanted to forget those horrible six months, forget the blackmailing, forget that her life was a living hell now, a hell that was waiting for her to come back to her apartment and just engulf her in flames again. So, when Jace did nothing but hold her, probably unsure on what to do, Clary turned in his arms, locked her hands on his neck and pulled him down to her. Her mouth was needy and demanding on his and she pushed and pulled until Jace finally moved, lifting her by the waist and never leaving her lips as his kiss became more and more passionate, resonating the urgency he felt in Clary. He kicked open the door of an empty bedroom, one of the many in the Institute and when they were inside Clary was the one to shut it before being flattened against the wall, still in the arms of her husband.

They didn’t talk, didn’t utter a single word while they undressed fast and almost ripping their clothes off, the soft fabric falling soundlessly on the floor. Jace was now kissing her along the neck, kneeling down before her to let his lips trail everywhere, from her jaw to her shoulders, following the soft curve of her chest, down to her stomach and up again when Clary took his face in her hands to kiss him hard and deep, willing herself to be lost in the wonderful meeting of their lips. They were suddenly on the bed, Jace’s arms on the side of Clary’s head, her fingers digging in his back, their legs tangled together, her hips wildly pushing against his as he wordlessly kissed her everywhere he could reach. Clary closed her eyes arching her back, lost in the sensations but as soon as Jace’s golden eyes were no longer before hers, the darkness came.

_Wrists bloody and throbbing._

_Cruel fingers digging in her hips._

_Hard, cold lips wandering on her body, biting viciously._

_Her own cries, so loud that she had no more voice in the end._

_Heavy hands beating her, slapping her, knocking her breath out._

_A merciless body violating her, again and again, until she spent all her tears._

_The belt, down and down and down._

_Hot knives carving in her skin her torturer insignia._

_And then all over again._

_All night._

Clary cried out in agony, forgetting where she was, forgetting who she was with, forgetting everything but the blinding pain, the terror, the rage. Her mind completely lost, she violently pushed Jace away from her, she grabbed the knife hidden in her boots and lounged forward to kill her enemy.

***

Jace didn’t know what was happening. One moment he was lying on top of Clary, ready to get rid of the last pieces of clothes between them and the next he was on the floor, the sharp point of a knife inches from his face. Looking at her it was obvious Clary wasn’t herself right now: her eyes were empty, she wasn’t really looking at him, he wasn’t even sure if she knew where she was anymore. His mind instantly travelled back in time, when Lilith had possessed him. Was this how he had looked? So distant, so closed off, so unreachable? Forcing the knife away from his face, he rolled on the side but Clary ran to him again, ready to stab in the chest this time. He taught her well during all those years, they were almost equal in combat now and that was making things difficult because he didn’t want to hurt her while she definitely wanted to kill him.

“Clary!” He shouted avoiding a blow. “Clary, stop!”

But the vacant look in her eyes told her she couldn’t hear him. It was almost like she was sleepwalking, a very fast and deadly sleepwalker.

Not having another choice he started to fight back, trying to get the knife but Clary was dancing around him in the little room like she had wings. If this kept up, sooner or later she would land a successful blow so Jace opened the door and ran in the corridor, trying to get more room to fight.

“I’ll kill you.” She growled, her voice so full of hatred, it froze his heart. “I’ll kill you, you monster!”

“Clary, wake up!” Jace dodged another blow and finally got a hold of her wrists, making her drop her knife. She thrashed in his grip landing kick after kick on his exposed legs but he just lifted her and threw her back in the room, closing the door.

Rushing to the bed he pinned his wife on it, holding her wrists with enough strength to bruise or she would have broken free and attacked him again. She was wild, her pupils dilated, a horrible grimace on her face.

“You want to tie me up again?” She hissed looking at him straight in the eyes, not even a flicker of recognition in them. “I’ll kill you before you can brand me again, filthy Downworlder!”

Jace felt his heart skip a beat when he realized she thought he was Jiliel but he didn’t have time to do anything because Clary kicked him with enough strength to make him roll down the bed; years of Shadowhunting had made her strong and fierce and even in her clouded state of mind she was a formidable opponent.

With lightning speed, he grabbed his stele from his pants on the floor and lounged to Clary before she could attack him again, throwing her on her stomach and quickly drawing a rune in the centre of her back, near her heart.

“I’m sorry Clary.” He whispered completing the “Sleep now” rune. Moments later the tense body of his wife calmed down and she closed her eyes, going limp.

Jace gently turned her around, looking at her now relaxed face. He slowly dressed her up again, picking then up his own clothes and stopping for a second to caress the soft red hair he loved so much.

Then he dressed up and left, going to look for Magnus.

***

“Is she alright?” Alec asked whispering, looking at Clary’s sleeping face. She was pale and motionless, her breathing slow and deep. Magnus was sitting down by her side, a focused look in his eyes while he was gently touching her wrist. Everybody else was standing in the small room, looking at Clary without talking. They couldn’t have a Silent Brother check on her because he would read her mind and find out about William and the Seelie Court, so they had to rely on Magnus, although they were pretty confident in his abilities. When the warlock got up, every pair of eyes was fixed on him.

“She’s exhausted but otherwise fine. She probably just needs to sleep. The attack won’t have consequences.”

“But what was it?” Jace sat down beside Clary, taking Magnus place. “She suddenly lost it, she didn’t recognize me anymore. It was like she was sleepwalking.”

“She went through something traumatic all these months Jace. Sooner or later it was bound to come up. She had a breakdown.”

The blond Shadowhunter turned to Isabelle. “You refused to tell me what happened yesterday. Clary talked about being tied up and branded. Tell me what that was about Izzy.”

Isabelle paled and bit the inside of her cheek, but Jace would have none of it. “She’s my wife Izzy and she just attacked me. She wanted to kill me, she thought I was _him_. You _will_ tell me what happened. Now.”

Simon nodded to her, urging her to talk; he didn’t know what this was about, but he was as eager as Jace, they were talking about his best friend.

“When she opened the door yesterday she was beaten up.” Isabelle finally relented. “There wasn’t an inch of her body that wasn’t bruised.”

The boys stopped breathing for a moment and suddenly the room was filled with so much tension Isabelle wanted to bolt out, whip in her hands and guide the punishing expedition that would kill the Fairy Knight.

“She told me she rebelled the other night, that she fought him. Then he threatened William so she had no choice but surrender. And he punished her.” She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. “She made me promise not to tell you, she didn’t want anybody to know. But I don’t know anything about a branding. If something like that happened, she didn’t tell me about it.”

“She must have healed it.” Jace murmured, caressing Clary’s hair. “Stubborn, little girl, she would never have me see something like that.”

He never felt so powerless, unable to help her in any way; he could kill Jiliel, but what good would it do? The Seelie Queen was more than capable of taking her revenge on Will and Clary wouldn’t want it. It was disgusting that she would use a child against his mother, that she twisted the love she felt for him in that sick way. Compared to her, he had it easy: Kaelie never once tried to use on him the power her Queen gave her. She could have forced him to do anything, but she pitied him enough not to torment him.

Isabelle’s phone chose that moment to ring and when she looked at the screen, she turned around and went to pick it up in the corridor. Jace looked at her raising his eyebrow but his whole attention shifted to Clary when she started to stir on the bed.

“Jace?” She called whispering, opening and closing her eyes. She felt exhausted.

“I’m here,” he softly replied taking her hand. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I hunted demons for a week straight without sleeping.” She tried to smile but it came out as a weak curving of her lips. “What happened?”

“You had a sort of blackout.” Magnus replied when Jace didn’t say anything. “But you’re fine now, you just need to rest.”

“Can I have a moment with her, alone, please?” Jace asked without looking back at his friends. “I think we need to talk.”

The boys nodded and Magnus was the first to leave the room. Simon leaned down to kiss Clary on the forehead but Alec didn’t move. When Jace turned around to look at him, he found something he rarely saw in his _parabatai_ eyes, something he usually reserved just for his siblings.

“Clary,” Alec said looking at her right in the eyes. “I know it’s not my place to say this, but I will anyway: I don’t want you to go back to your apartment. I don’t want you to be alone with him again. We’ll think about something but if I have to tie you up to keep you here, then I’ll do it. I won’t let you get beaten up to insanity again.”

“Alec—” Clary started to protest, realizing Isabelle must have told them what happened to her. The dark haired boy cut her off.

“I’ve known you since you were sixteen. You’re like a sister to me. You’re part of the family. And I protect my family Clary. There’s no way I’ll let that beast lift another finger on you. Ever.”

With that Alec gave her one of his wonderful smiles and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Clary sighed leaning on the pillow and closed her eyes. “I get Isabelle didn’t keep her promise.”

“Don’t hold it against her.” Jace said, caressing her hand. “Given the situation it was either she talked or I beat the information out of her.”

“I’m sorry.” She whispered. “I didn’t want you to know. It’s already hard enough for both of us without me adding fuel to the fire.”

“Tell me what happened Clary, and this time I want to know everything.”

“Why?” She opened her eyes looking at him, the pain clear in her gaze. “You can’t undo what he did. I don’t want you to feel—”

“Powerless? Frustrated? Desperate?” Jace squeezed her hand with anger. “It’s already like this. Clary, you talked about being tied up and branded, how do you think I should feel? You’re my wife and he damaged you to the point that as soon as I touched you, you tried to kill me, thinking it was him.”

And that was it. Images of that cursed night surfaced and bit by bit she started to remember when she attacked her husband. Horror filled her at the thought of what she could have done to him and she started shaking.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, choking back a sob. “I’m so sorry, Jace, I really thought I could do it, I needed you so much—” She sat up and threw herself in Jace’s arms, hiding her face in his chest. “I wanted to forget. I wanted to remember what it was like to be yours, to be loved and cherished. But when I closed my eyes he was all I could see and—”

Jace held her tight letting her talk, letting her pour everything out. And she did: six months of suffering, abuse, pain, longing and despair. Soon he had to fight the tears, listening to what she had to endure but he never said anything, never interrupted her, never vowed to kill the Fairy Knight, even though his blood was boiling in anger and fury: it wasn’t what she needed. She needed him, her husband, her pillar, the man she could trust more than anyone, the one who would never judge her, never abandon her. He wanted to be that man, even though every fiber of his being was shouting at him to get up, grab a Seraph blade and dispose of Jiliel forever.

In the end Clary stopped talking but he never let her go, keeping her in his arms and running soothing circles on her back, whispering sweet nothings in her ear. Bit by bit she relaxed in his hold, her face still buried in his chest, her shoulders slowly stopping shaking.

“Clary, Alec is right.” Jace murmured, kissing her hair. “You can’t go back to your apartment. You understand that, don’t you?”

“But—”

“We can tell them your mother wants you back in Alicante for good, to help you feel better. After all she’s been asking about it since months and Jiliel knows it. You going there for a period of time could be justified to him as not wanting to raise your family suspicions. You can portal, so we could still see each other and the Fair Folk aren’t allowed in Idris anymore, so you would be safe. Please tell me you can consider this.”

Clary was silent for a few minutes, then she slowly let him go, raising her face to look at him. Her features were very tired, her eyes bloodshot and it took her some deep breaths to manage to speak with a steady voice.

“Jace I can’t go now. First I need to find out if what Jiliel told me about William is true.”

His frame tensed up. “What about Will?”

“He told me the Queen is using him for something. She didn’t take him just to make us suffer, she took him because she needed him and I have to know why. That’s why I can’t leave.”

Jace was about to reply when someone knocked on the door and a moment later Isabelle came back in the room, the phone still in her hands.

“Clary, do you think you can get up now? Are you well enough?” She asked with urgency in her eyes. When Clary nodded, Isabelle turned to look at Jace. “It was Kaelie on the phone. She’s coming here right now, she said she needs to talk to you both about Will. She found out what’s happening.”


	13. Blood Magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the delay! It's been crazy here for a while. I'll try to get back on track!

“You did what?” Alec shouted, looking at his sister in disbelief.

“I did what I had to do. You heard what Clary told us about Will, we needed information and Kaelie was the only one who could investigate for us.”

Isabelle was standing proud, her head held high, defying everyone with her gaze. They were in the library, waiting for Kaelie to arrive and they were all looking at her like she suddenly grew two heads.

“You had no right Izzy.” Jace was livid, his golden eyes glowing with anger. He was standing beside Clary who was sitting down trying to recover some strength, still pale and weak. “I never told her you people figured it out, you could have jeopardized everything!”

“Except that I didn’t.” She replied, closing her fists. She knew that moment would arrive since she talked with the pixie, she knew her family would disapprove. “She was surprised but she was expecting it. She told me she knew you would tell us everything since she agreed to help.”

“Izzy, you took a big gamble this time.” Simon murmured shaking his head. “You could have scared her, made her run. Or made her change her mind.”

She turned to him to reply but Clary’s voice interrupted them. “It’s done.” She said, looking at her. “And now I consider us even, Izzy, because I should really beat your ass into next month for this. Jace worked a lot to win her trust and you—”

“Look, Kaelie sounded scared on the phone.” Isabelle interrupted her. “Whatever she found out, it’s worth the risk of coming here in broad daylight. And you know I would have never done something like this if I didn’t have the feeling we had no time to waste. What you told me about Jiliel scared me and I’m not easily scared.”

“It could have been a lie.” Magnus told her, leaning back against his chair. “Something to mess with Clary’s mind. He thought she could never verify it.”

Isabelle rolled her eyes, throwing her hands up but before she could reply, they heard the Institute doorbell ring. Jace left the library without a word to open it and for some moments only silence filled the room. They were nervous, afraid of what the fairy would tell them: what if the Queen was indeed using William for something dangerous, ready to discard him the moment he wasn’t useful anymore?

Simon walked to Isabelle and ran a comforting hand on her back with a sigh. He understood her more than anybody else and he knew why she had to act like she did: Izzy would never forget that her brother died because she didn’t listen to him, because she didn’t investigate when Max told her about somebody climbing the towers in Alicante. No way she would let anything happen to William, not now that she knew he was alive, not now that he could be saved. Will wouldn’t be another Max.

***

Jace opened the door after running all the way to it. Whatever brought Kaelie there was so urgent that it couldn’t wait until that evening when he could go to her without raising suspicions. Thinking that William could be in danger was enough to send a cold shiver down his spine and when he saw Kaelie’s expression his fear intensified.

“Come in.” He invited her, closing the door when she stepped inside. It wasn’t the first time the fairy visited the Institute but the other times everybody thought of her just as Jace’s date while in reality she was following her Queen’s order and keeping an eye on him. Now she was tense and even though she was trying to stay calm it was obvious she wasn’t. She was suddenly regretting coming all the way there: what was she thinking? Why couldn’t she just call Jace and ask him to come to her place? Was the Cold Peace not enough to teach her how Shadowhunters treated those who crossed them?

Jace looked down at her noticing she was shaking and raised a hand to hold her arm reassuringly. “Nobody will hurt you, I promise. You’re under my oath of protection and they know it, you’re safe here. Whatever you say, whatever is happening, this won’t change. And if you need a place to stay, if you’re in danger, this is your home Kaelie, I promise you.”

“They’ll hate me Jace, and they are right. I was part of all that happened.”

“But now you’re helping us.” Jace raised her chin with his finger and made her look at him. “Kaelie, I hated you in the beginning. I hated what you were supposed to do, keep me away from Clary, report my every move. But then I came to know you, and you’re so much better than you think: you’re compassionate, your heart craves for justice, you love your people. You’re doing this for the Fair Folk because they deserve so much more than what’s happening now. Don’t forget that. And don’t underestimate yourself, you’re much braver than you think. I admire you.”

“Really?” She tried to smile, but it came out weak. Jace nodded and she sighed. “Is Clary alright? I heard my brother the other night telling the Queen he punished her for attacking him. I know him, he’s ruthless and cruel. I know what “punishment” means to him.”

His eyes glowed of a dangerous glint for a second, but he stayed calm. “She’s fine now, she healed. But I won’t let it happen again.”

“He’s my brother, Jace.” She whispered, perfectly reading between the lines. “Helping you save your son is one thing but if that time comes, I’ll protect Jiliel no matter how wrong he acted.”

“I know.” It was all he answered, but it was enough: they were on the same side for now, but in the future that would change and even though she never wanted to fight him she wasn’t willing to let him kill her brother, her family.

“Let’s go.” She told him after a moment of silence. “And if Magnus Bane isn’t here, I suggest you call him. He could help me shed some light on what I found out.”

They took the elevator and quietly walked to the library. Step after step, Kaelie held her head a bit higher, preparing herself for the hateful glares of the Nephilim. _I’m doing this for my people,_ she kept repeating to herself, _I’m doing this because a war now would destroy us. I’m doing this because what the Queen is doing is wrong. I’m doing this because—_

The sound of the library door distracted her from her thoughts and when she stepped inside she felt like a convict taken before the jury who would condemn her: Clary was sitting down, the judge unwilling to show any mercy. Isabelle and Simon were on her right and Magnus and Alec on her left. Every eye was on Kaelie and none of them was friendly.

The pixie took a deep breath and stepped inside, grateful that Jace was still standing beside her instead of joining his friends.

“I can’t stay long so I’m going to make this short and assume you’re all up to date with everything that happened.” She didn’t greet them, nor they greeted her: this wasn’t a friendly meeting, just an exchange of information from temporary allies. She kept her voice steady; she wouldn’t look weak in front of all those Shadowhunters. “First of all, the child is fine and healthy. He spends his days playing with our little ones and he’s cared for. I saw it myself.”

She paused when she heard a snort coming from Alec but she expected it. Of course William would be better with his family, they were all thinking that. She looked at Clary who was still sitting down with a blank look in her eyes and chose to keep talking looking at her and ignoring everyone else; she was probably the worst choice to focus on, but she was the kid’s mother.

“Jiliel told you your son was mistreated: I assure you he was lying. But,” she sighed, “the Queen is using him for something. That’s true.”

“Kaelie.” Jace stepped in front of her. “Is she hurting my son?”

The pixie looked unsure and turned to Magnus. “I don’t know. But maybe your warlock friend can help us figure it out.”

“Me?” Magnus raised his eyebrow.

“I saw something yesterday night, something I can’t explain: it looked like magic, so maybe you can understand it.”

“Mhm.” Magnus stepped closer and took the fairy’s hand guiding her to a chair. He ignored the surprised glances of his friends and focused on Kaelie. “Alright. Explain what happened and be as detailed as you can.”

“Wait.” Clary talked for the first time, standing up. She was pale but her green eyes were flaming. “Jiliel spoke about blood. He told me William is alive because he’s Sebastian’s nephew. The magic you saw was blood magic? Is she binding my son to her like Sebastian did with Jace years ago?”

A dead silence filled the room because they all remembered what happened and that it took a miracle, a sword from Heaven, to free Jace that time. And Glorious was gone forever. But Kaelie shook her head even though the troubled look in her eyes remained.

“Not that I know of. And not to her anyway.” She sighed and looked down. She was about to betray the most important secret of her Queen and she couldn’t help but feel guilty about it. “I don’t know where to start to be honest.”

“How about the beginning?” Magnus said, taking charge of the conversation. He was the most suitable person probably, as he was the only one who spoke in favour of the Fairies after the Dark War. He was furious about what happened to William, but his centuries of life taught him nothing was always just black or white.

There was a long silence before Kaelie finally started to talk again. “When the Dark War ended, when we discussed the “peace” terms,” her voice was flat but one could detect the sarcasm in it, “I came to represent the Fair Folk instead of the Queen. Do you remember that?”

Magnus nodded. “I always wondered why. I never thought about you as an ambassador.”

“I am one of her ladies in waiting but as our ruler it was her duty to attend herself. She didn’t for a very specific reason.” She took a deep breath and then she whispered. “She didn’t want to be seen, especially by the Shadowhunters.”

Kaelie looked around but nobody was talking, apparently they still didn’t understand. She would be forced to say it out loud. “She was pregnant.”

She closed her eyes, hiding her face in her hands while around her chaos erupted.

“What?” Clary shouted, her eyes wide in shock. Isabelle and Alec shared a look and Simon went to Clary, grabbing her arm: she looked ready to assault the fairy.

“She was pregnant.” Jace repeated, his voice barely above a whisper. “And Sebastian was the father.”

“She found out just before he died. She wasn’t showing yet, but she didn’t want to take the risk. Who knows what the Nephilim would have done, had they knew.”

“I think we all know what they would have done.” Magnus quietly replied. “They exiled Helen Blackthorn just because she had fairy blood. They gave up on Mark Blackthorn for the same reason. And we all remember how they treated Clary and Jace, because of Valentine. A son of Sebastian Morgenstern would have never been allowed to live.”

“Daughter.” Kaelie whispered. “It was a girl.”

“What does it matter that Sebastian had a daughter?” Jace asked, visibly shaken. “What has William to do with it?”

“Blood.” Clary answered, gritting her teeth. “So Jiliel was telling the truth, it was about blood. My son and that little monster are related.”

“She’s not a monster.” Kaelie raised her head, springing up from her chair. “She’s just a baby. And we thought she died six months after her birth. She was an _infant_.”

“No offspring of Sebastian could ever be just an infant.” Clary objected, her face carved in stone. “Not with his blood in her veins. And I swear, Kaelie, if the Seelie Queen is using that blood to hurt my son, I—”

“It’s not like that!” The fairy shouted, shooting daggers with her eyes. Magnus got a hold of her arm and gently held her, placing himself between her and Clary.

“You said the baby was supposed to be dead. I take it that she isn’t? And why would you think that?”

“The Princess was sick.” Kaelie explained. “She was always weak and suffered strong fever all the time. She was never healthy. One day she was just… gone. The Queen told us she died and she never spoke of her again. We all knew she deeply loved her baby and never asked her anything.”

“Love?” Isabelle bitterly laughed. “You need to have a heart to love, pixie.”

“And you know everything about my Queen, don't you Nephilim?” Kaelie replied, venom in every words. “I was there when the Princess was born. I was there when she was sick. I was there when the Queen told us she died. I was there the entire time. She was a mother: she loved and she suffered, like every mother.”

“And yet she didn’t hesitate to tear my son away from me.” Clary growled. “So now cut the crap and tell me what is she doing to William.”

Kaelie turned to Magnus again. She had expected a strong reaction to her story, but the open hostility was making her really regret telling them everything. “I followed my brother yesterday night: he was carrying the child to a part of the Court I never visited. The Queen was waiting for them in a place carved out of stone, hidden below her bed chamber and there was an altar in there. The Princess was on that altar, closed inside a crystal, like a coffin. She was still as I last saw her and I think she was sleeping.”

“Snow White all over again.” Simon muttered. “But isn’t she a bit young to be waiting for the kiss of her true love?”

Nobody replied, maybe Clary was the only one to actually get the fairytale reference but all of her attention was on the pixie.

“And then something happened and I don’t know what that is. The Queen placed William’s hand on the crystal, she whispered something and a golden light raised from the child and circled the altar. Then it was sucked inside the crystal. She did it several times and then the glow just disappeared. The last I saw before running away, the Princess herself was glowing with that golden light. And I have no idea of what that means.”

Silence fell on the library and Jace walked to his wife, sliding a hand on her waist and making her lean against his chest; she needed the support and he needed to have Clary nearby, to feed on her strength like he always did.

“Magnus,” he whispered. “What is she doing to our son? Is William in danger?”

The warlock didn’t answer, leaving Kaelie’s side and pacing around, deep in thoughts. Alec followed him with his eyes, silently suggesting everybody to be quiet and let Magnus think. The warlock’s eyes were closed, his head low as he kept walking muttering something they couldn’t understand.

“You told us the baby was always sick.” He finally said, still pacing. “Then she was supposed to be dead. And yet she was frozen inside the crystal you saw, still the same age of her “death”. My guess is the Queen operated some fairy magic on her to keep her alive while she looked for a way to heal her sickness. That’s the crystal function, it keeps her alive but it also prevents her from growing up. And it prevents the sickness from progressing. If the baby was dead, the Queen would be doing something very different to bring her back.”

There was no need to specify what, they all remembered Sebastian's resurrection.

“But that doesn’t explain William’s part in all of this.”

Magnus turned to Alec, nodding. “Jiliel told Clary she was lucky her son had Sebastian’s blood. But we all know Sebastian was experimented on and his blood was demonic; William’s is angelic. Very angelic, given his parents. And yet that baby is his cousin. They are family. They are compatible.”

Clary gritted her teeth at the notion but didn’t comment.

“So, we have a very sick baby and an healthy one, giving her something. And that golden glow makes me think about one thing in particular William could be giving her.”

“His blood.” Alec whispered, paling. “The Seelie Queen is extracting William’s blood to cure her daughter.”

“Not extracting.” Magnus shook his head. “If it was something like that, Will would be sick in no time, but Kaelie says he’s perfectly healthy. The Seelie Queen is using some magic to share Will’s blood without hurting him. And I suspect the reason she’s doing it is because the baby’s blood is what’s causing her sickness.”

“Her blood?” Kaelie asked, looking perplexed.

“Sebastian was a Shadowhunter. As corrupted as his blood was, he still had an angelic part of it, it was part of his DNA. He must have transferred both his angelic and demonic blood to his daughter. Inside of him the demonic blood was dominant. In the baby it probably isn’t, so we have a demonic part, an angelic one and a fairy one. There’s bound to be some conflict.”

“That’s why the Queen told Jiliel that had Sebastian been alive it would have been different.” Kaelie said, now nodding in understanding. “She’s trying to replace the Princess’ blood. With Sebastian, she would have tried with his demonic blood, but now that he’s gone her only hope is the angelic one.”

“Yes.” Magnus nodded. “If William’s blood overwhelms Sebastian one, the baby will just have angelic and fairy blood in her; those two doesn’t fight, the baby would be a full Shadowhunter. She would be healthy as well.”

“The Seelie Queen said she needed William to love her daughter, to be willing to do anything for her. That’s why she wants to keep him, so that he could always be there if the Princess got sick again for any reason. She’s telling him that the Princess is his sister, and William laughed when he saw her. He wanted to touch her, he was smiling while transferring his blood.” Kaelie hid her face between her hands again and then passed her fingers through her hair in distress. She wasn’t going to tell them the Queen apparently cared for Will like a son, not after what she already heard from the Nephilim: the Queen’s feelings were her own.

“Are they bound to each other?” Jace asked, his voice tightly controlled. “Like me and Sebastian were?”

“No, it doesn’t work like that.” Magnus answered and Jace exhaled a silent sigh of relief. “If anything the Princess is the one bound to William. He’s the one giving her his blood, she’s not giving anything to him. And yet I’m just speculating. You need to remember nobody have ever been experimented on like you three were, Jace. I’m just assuming here.”

“So this could be true or there could be another reason.” Clary stated, closing her hands in fists. “We know almost nothing about Fairy magic, it could be anything.”

“Yes.” Magnus agreed. “But I think it’s the most logic conclusion, the one that piece together what Kaelie saw and what Jiliel told you. The only thing that I don’t get is this: William’s blood isn’t clean. He still has the Kohl poison in his system and it was the Queen herself that put it there. Using Will to cure her daughter must have been her plan all along, but she must be truly desperate to give the baby a blood that will poison her for the rest of her life.”

“Unless we’re right and a definite cure exists.” Simon said, scratching his head. “And who better than the Queen could know about it?” He turned to Kaelie trying his best to gentle his gaze. He would probably never forgive her or her kind, but she was helping them, she had willingly came to them knowing she would be insulted and treated with suspicion. “Do you think you could find out if something like that exists?”

The pixie shook her head. “Maybe I could, given time. But we don’t have time. That’s the other thing I came to tell you about: the Queen is almost ready to attack. I don’t know how or when, but it won’t be long.”

“And why is that?” Jace asked.

“Because the last vampire clan that was still missing, agreed to help last night.”

“The vampires.” Clary whispered after a long minute of silence. “Then I was right. They allied with the Fair Folk. A match made in Hell.”

“The Queen needed allies, someone who would help her. We lost many of our warriors in the Dark War.” Kaelie continued, a sour taste in her mouth: she was really doing it, she was betraying her people. “The peace treaty forbade us from having an army and so we had to lay low and ask others to do the job for us. I always wondered what she offered to persuade them to help and I found out yesterday night: she gave the vampires something they craved for since the Daylighter made his appearance.”

“Me?” Simon pointed at himself not getting what was going on.

“She promised all the vampire clans that she would gave them Jace and Clary so every vampire who wanted it, could become a Daylighter.”

Chaos erupted once again and Jace held Clary close, fighting the impulse to grab a Seraph blade and hold it against whoever would come to tear his wife away from him. Isabelle and Alec were now standing between them and Kaelie like she was the one ready to drink their blood and Magnus and Simon were just stunned.

“How—” Simon began to ask, trying to remember if he ever told anybody about biting Jace on Valentine’s ship all those years ago.

“It was Jace.” Kaelie answered tiredly. “He told his father about him giving his blood to the Daylighter. And Valentine told Sebastian. The Queen just put two and two together. The angel blood was the only explanation.”

“So now they know?” Clary asked, her features tensed and stiff. “Every vampire clan knows about Jace and me?”

Kaelie nodded and Clary closed her eyes. “We’ll never be safe again. Not us, not Will… even if we manage to save him, they’ll never leave us alone. They’ll be out for us till the end of our days. Oh Angel…”

Jace rubbed a hand on her back, trying to comfort her but he was raging inside: it was his fault. If he just kept his big mouth shut with Valentine, this would have never happened. And yet, he couldn’t know what the consequences might have been, he was just a seventeen years old boy who was trying to prove a point to his father. _But I condemned my family. Clary is right, we’ll never be safe again._

“What are the terms?” Magnus asked, the first to recover from the news. “What are the vampires supposed to do? Just fight alongside the fairies when the time comes?”

“They are attacking the werewolves.” Kaelie explained. “The Queen knows the werewolves will probably ally with the Nephilim when the war starts: their representative was a Shadowhunter, now he’s married to one and has too many ties with them. He would manage to persuade the werewolves to help. So the first step is preventing them to help by killing as many as they can beforehand. Actually, we could say the war already started; it's just that the Shadowhunters weren't attacked yet.”

“We must find a way to warn the Council.” Alec said, running a hand through his hair. “A war against the Fair Folk at day and the vampires at night would be hell to fight, even with the werewolves on our side, using the Alliance Rune.”

Isabelle shook her head. “If we warn the Clave—”

“I know, they’ll immediately attack. And William is still down there.” Alec closed his eyes, frustrated.

“Back at square one.” Simon commented. “We need to get Will back but we need an antidote first. If Kaelie thinks she cannot help with this we must find another way.”

“You’re still thinking about the Unseelie Court, aren’t you?” Isabelle asked, looking at him.

“Do you have a better idea? They are fairies and they hate the Seelie Court. It’s our best shot.”

“They’ll never agree to meet us. The aftermath of the Dark War affected them as well and they are more secluded than the Seelie Court.”

“The Unseelie Court isn’t a pretty place.” Kaelie slowly said, deeply breathing. She turned her back to everyone and lowered her head. “It’s dark and mysterious and the Fair Folk that live there are different from us. They are cruel and brutal. Not the kind of people you want to mess with.”

“But they could have the information we need. They could know how to cure William.” Simon insisted. “Nothing in our books lead us to believe there is a definite cure, but if the Seelie Queen really loves her daughter like you’re saying, she wouldn’t give her a poisoned blood.”

“The Unseelie King is as knowledgeable as the Seelie Queen.” Kaelie admitted. “If she knows about an antidote, then so does he. And you’re right, he hates our Queen. But he’s cunning and devious and he does nothing for nothing. There will be a price to pay and you probably won’t like it.”

“There’s always a price to pay with the Fair Folk.” Clary replied taking a step forward. “Tell us how to get to the Court.”

“You can’t.” She said, turning around. Clary was looking at her with barely concealed hatred but she sustained her gaze. “Nobody can, unless a fairy is with them. The Unseelie Court likes its privacy.”

“Well then.” Clary told her after a moment of silence. “We all know what we need to do, right?”

Nobody talked for a while, as the two women looked at each other in a tense silence. Then Kaelie stepped forward. “Come with me for some minutes. I need to talk to you alone.”

“Kaelie—” Jace tried to interrupt but Clary raised her hand.

“It’s fine. Let’s go out.” She didn’t say another word and silently led the pixie out. Once they stepped outside the library, Clary followed her finding out she was heading towards the training room. She smiled bitterly thinking about the reason Kaelie knew her way around the Institute, thinking about all the times she had been there to keep her and Jace apart. It looked like everybody trusted her now but she wasn’t going to be fooled: maybe she was helping them, but she had her own agenda, fairies always did. She wasn’t going to be stupid enough to forget that.

When they entered the training room Kaelie looked around and strolled to the far away wall where the weapons were hanging. She thought about it for a couple of seconds and grabbed a training sword; then in a swift move she turned around and swing it down towards Clary with all her strength. The reaction was instinctive: Clary dodged so quickly that her movements were barely visible and in the blink of an eye the training sword was flying in the air while the Shadowhunter had Kaelie pinned on the floor.

“What the hell!” She shouted, keeping her down. “What did you think you were doing?”

The fairy was trying to get up, sweat streaming down her forehead, the veins in her neck big with the effort but Clary wasn’t going to let her go. Finally Kaelie gave up and looked at the Nephilim.

“What do you see Clary?” She asked tiredly.

Clary let her go and got up, looking at her with suspicion. “What do you mean?”

“I tried to attack you, I lounged at you with all my strength and two seconds later I was pinned on the ground. What does this tell you?”

“That you’re a horrible fighter?” She answered raising her eyebrows.

“Exactly.” Kaelie nodded and sat up, crossing her legs on the floor. “I’m not a warrior Clary. I never was. I’m a court lady if you have to label me something. I’m a waitress. I’m not a fighter.”

“Your point being?”

“I’m different from you. You were born a warrior, Clary. You trained like one. You even think like one. I don’t have that kind of courage, I never had, I wouldn’t know what to do in a battlefield. And still, here I am.” She looked up at her, her lips in a thin line. “Here I am, waiting to be killed.”

“Dramatic much?” Clary said, a hint of derision in her voice.

“When my people finds out what I’m doing, they’ll kill me. Just one hint that I’m betraying them and I’m as good as dead, without a chance to defend myself. My own brother would happily cut my throat to punish me. So stop thinking that I’m having it easy here, because I’m as terrified as I can be knowing that one single misstep is my demise.”

“Well, excuse me if I can’t pity you.” Clary spat in anger. “You’re one of the people who took my son and my husband away from me, not to count that you actually wanted to sleep with him. You’re one of the bad guys Kaelie and trust me, I’m _never_ going to forget that. You say you changed? Maybe. But I won’t buy it until I see it with my own eyes, until William is back home safe and sound.”

Kaelie stood up shooting daggers with her eyes. “If I were one of the bad guys we wouldn’t be here. I would have forced Jace to remove the marriage runes, I would have him moved in with me and maybe I would be pregnant with his child now, to ensure he could never come back to you. If I were one of the bad guys I would be in my Court telling my Queen about you and Jace not keeping your end of the bargain; I would be laughing every time my brother whips you and trust me, I know he does.”

She tried to calm down taking a deep breath. “But I’m not. I’m here because what the Queen is doing is _wrong_. I’m here because I love my people and this war could be the end of us. I’m here because I don’t want my home to become another Edom, with no Nephilim around: I don’t like your kind but I like demons even less. I’m here because I want to give you William back.”

“You’re here because you’re in love with Jace and you’re hoping he’ll forgive you.” Clary accused, keeping herself from slapping the fairy. How dared she try to have her sympathy?

Kaelie was stunned for a moment but then she nodded. “I like Jace, that’s true. Maybe I’m even in love with him, we have history. But I’m not stupid, I know there is no woman for him, except you. I won’t ruin my life waiting for someone who’ll never want me back. I want him to be happy, I want him to have his son back and I want to prevent you both spending your lives as vampire lab rats.”

“How noble of you.” Clary said sarcastically.

“I’ll show you the way to the Unseelie Court.” Kaelie sighed, nervously wringing her hands. “I’ll come with you and seek an audience with the King. There is protocol: I’m a fairy and whatever he thinks of me, he’s required to see me. But I want you to understand that I probably won’t leave the Unseelie Court alive. They enjoy killing us and I doubt I’ll be an exception.”

Now it was Clary’s turn to be stunned. As much as she hated the pixie she didn’t want her dead. “You’re walking into a trap just to get us there?”

“And you can’t tell Jace.” Kaelie firmly replied. “He swore to protect me, he would never allow me to go with you. But the Daylighter is right, the Unseelie King could indeed be the key to save your son, so we have to try: there is no time left to find other solutions. And you have to stop Jace from fighting if I die or it will all be for nothing. The Unseelie Fairies won’t harm you: they have no interest in starting a conflict with your kind, they’ll let you go.”

Clary looked at her for a long time, her fists clenched at her sides, her eyes scrutinizing every hidden shadows of Kaelie’s face. “Maybe you did change. Maybe you really want to make this right. I’m not ready to forgive and forget, I’ll probably never do, but now I get why Jace swore to protect you and be on the Fair Folk side in the Council.”

“I just want what’s best for my people. The Seelie Queen was a great sovereign in the past but since your brother appeared, it all went downhill. I don’t want us to suffer for her mistakes any longer. The Fair Folk can be cunning and cruel but we’re not different from the other Downworlders and we shouldn’t be treated differently. I just want things to go back where they were before Sebastian Morgenstern ruined it for us.”

Clary nodded. “Ok. Let’s call a truce for now. We’ll deal with everything step by step. First step, the Unseelie Court: you’ll show us the way, we’ll go in, promise whatever the King wants for his help and then I’ll Portal us back to safety in the blink of an eye. Yourself included.”

Kaelie opened her mouth to protest but Clary stopped her. “_Yourself included_. I’m not leaving you there to die and neither is Jace. It’s not what we do. And now that this is settled, let’s get the hell out of here and prepare to go.”

The two women looked at each other for a minute, then Clary did something that left Kaelie stunned: she held out her hand. When she looked up again, Clary was standing there with her eyebrows raised. “Well?”

The fairy nodded and firmly shake the Shadowhunter hand, sealing their deal. “Let’s go.”


	14. Spyra

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ladies and gentlemen, this chapter and the one that will follow, are one of the reasons I warned that this fanfiction doesn't consider the events in The Dark Artifices trilogy. I know Cassie mentioned the fairies a lot and also introduce the Unseelie Fairies but when I wrote this fanfiction, Lady Midnight wasn't out yet, so I had no idea on what would happen.  
To anybody familiar with D&D or the concept of a Dark Elf, you'll recognise what I did here. Happy reading! :)

“It can’t work, not like this.” Magnus said when Kaelie announced her decision to guide Clary and Jace to the Unseelie Court.

“What are you talking about?” Alec asked turning to his boyfriend. “Why shouldn’t it?”

“First of all, we would put Kaelie in danger and we can’t afford it. If by chance anyone finds out she went to the Unseelie Court with us, her cover is blown. The Seelie Queen will know she’s betraying her, she’ll move both William and her daughter and we’ll never find them again.”

“Why would the Unseelie King—” Isabelle started, but Magnus cut her off.

“The question is, why not? He would probably not alert the Seelie Queen about Shadowhunters trying to outwit her, but another fairy betraying her kind? That’s on another level and it would bring chaos into the Seelie Court. Stirring up conflict is something the fairies like a lot, and the Unseelie fairies most of all.”

“We’ll have to take that chance.” Jace replied. “Kaelie is the only one who can guide us to the Unseelie Court.”

“And on that note,” Magnus gave Jace a meaningful look. “You and Clary are not going. I will.”

“What?” Alec eyes widened.

“We can’t send Jace and Clary, it would be like waving a red flag telling the Seelie Queen they’re trying to find a way out. If I go, it’s less suspicious, I can think about a couple of reasons I would like to go there.”

Jace and Clary exchanged an alarmed look. Letting Magnus go maybe would be safer for them but neither one was accustomed to just wait on the sidelines. Besides this was about their son, they couldn’t just stand back and wait for someone else to do the dangerous job in their place.

“Magnus, I don’t think—”

“Clary, I’m just not letting you two go.” The warlock firmly said. “I’m not watched like you are, and certainly a Downworlder paying a visit to another Downworlder is less conspicuous than a Nephilim doing the same thing. Besides, I have an insider there.”

That shut them all up and they just stared at Magnus in disbelief. The warlock looked troubled, like he was thinking about unpleasant memories. It was kind of weird seeing an ashamed expression in Magnus eyes but there it was.

“There was a time in my life when I wasn’t feeling exactly... joyful. I was tired and sad and angry.” He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “I was also definitely young and I tended to exaggerate a lot. That’s when I met Spyra. She was an anomaly in her race, an Unseelie fairy who wished to see the outside world. She liked to mess around with mundanes, play with their emotions, generally leaving a trail of broken hearts behind her.”

He looked at Alec and then continued. “She lived with me for a while, we were like partners in crime. It was a crazy period... I had so much anger in me that I was glad to be able to pour it out somehow: I found it fun. I’m not exactly proud of it.”

Nobody replied and Magnus sighed. “The point is that Spyra and I did a lot of things together and when she was finally recalled to the Unseelie Court we were sort of friends: the creepy, evil kind of friends. She gave me something of hers, a goodbye gift and also a proof I really knew her, should I ever need to go and find her again.”

“And if you manage to contact her, you think she could grant us an audience with the King?” Clary asked cautiously. This way they could have Kaelie show them the way and then go away without been seen, while Magnus asked for his former friend. And if he really had an insider vouching for him, there was a good chance the King would be more willing to talk to him than he would be to her and Jace.

“Probably.” Magnus shrugged. “I saw her for the last time more or less two hundred years ago, but I’m pretty sure she remembers me.”

“Two hundred years ago?” Isabelle asked. “Are you sure she’s even alive?”

“Fairies have a long lifespan.” Magnus replied just as Kaelie was about to do the same. “And if she was dead, her gift to me would have decayed. When Simon came up with his idea about the Unseelie Court the other day I went to look it up: it’s still perfect.”

“And why haven’t you talked about her sooner?” Alec asked, his face void of emotions.

“Because I didn’t want to remember and I hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.” Magnus eyes were sad now. “Alexander, there are a lot of things I’m not proud of, things I did that I regret. Spyra is one of those things. She’s the perfect example of what an Unseelie fairy is: cunning, gorgeous, wicked, evil. And when we were together, I found her attractive precisely because she was like that. I guess I was tired of trying to be a good guy.”

The room was silent for some moments while the two men looked at each other. Everybody knew that Magnus' past was a sensitive topic for Alec, one of the reasons they broke up all those years ago. In the end Alec just sighed, shaking his head. “Well, sometimes I wonder when your past experiences will stop being a problem, you know? But now we don’t have the time for this and anyway I’m not going to make the same mistake I did years ago. The past is past and what counts is the here and now. We’ll talk about this later.”

He stopped, apparently only then recalling they weren’t alone and that a perfect stranger was among them: not ideal for a private talk. He went back to business, taking a step to his boyfriend.

“So the plan is letting Kaelie show you the way, then she leaves and you go look for this Unseelie fairy?”

“More or less.” Magnus nodded.

“Alright. So when do we leave?”

“We?” The warlock raised his eyebrow.

“Well, of course.” Alec grinned. “Or do you think I would ever let you go alone? Forget about it.”

Magnus started to argue but Alec cut him off with a playful smile. “Besides, I want to meet this evil fairy. Who knows, maybe she could tell me some details about your life as a bad boy. It could be interesting.”

Magnus opened his mouth to reply but for once nothing came out as he looked surprised at his boyfriend. Then he slowly smiled and winked, his eyes passing him a silent message of love and the promise of a _very_ interesting time where he could show Alec everything about him being a bad boy—when they were alone, later.

As Alec caught the shocked look on his friends’ faces, he at least had the decency to blush.

***

“Well, this isn’t what I was expecting.” Alec commented once they entered the bathroom of a high-class restaurant. It was the female section but they were glamoured and anyway it was empty.

It hadn’t been easy to persuade everyone that Magnus really was the better one to pull this off and since they had to wait until nightfall to leave, it had been a long day of discussions. Jace was the worst one, resisting till the last minute but that was understandable: he was a man of action and part of his _punishment_ by the Queen had been to just stand on the sideline and watch Clary be the one to do the dirty job, unable to lift a finger to help and protect her. Of course now that his secret was out in the open he was itching to do something, anything other than stand still and wait for news. In the end it was Clary who took his hand and squeezed it, telling him that if she had to stay back, then she needed him right beside her or she wouldn’t stand it. And everybody knew that Jace wouldn’t be able to deny Clary anything, especially now.

“I know it’s hard to believe but this once was a sacred place for the Unseelie fairies.” Kaelie said, looking around and bringing Alec back in the present. The bathroom was neat and even faintly scented with a vanilla perfume but the mirrors, with their elaborate frames, weren’t reflecting their images. “They would come out on moonless nights and dance around a huge rock that was standing right here. Then mundanes came and, well, they started building around here. The rock is gone, but its magic remains, it’s embedded in the place and during the night it opens the path for the Unseelie Court. When you’re good to go, I’ll make you shift in the Court.”

Alec frowned. “Must it always happen by magic? I thought the majority of the Fair Folk wasn’t a magic user.”

“We aren’t.” Kaelie nodded. “But the power of coming and going from the Courts it’s in our blood, it’s part of being a fairy. We can all do at least that, even if we don’t grasp the rest of the fairy magic. Shifting in the Unseelie Court isn’t that natural because I’m a Seelie fairy, but I can still do it.”

“I wondered about that.” Magnus told her, tapping his chin with his index finger. “Aren’t you like different species of the same race? Spyra is the only Unseelie Fairy I ever saw, but she’s quite different from you, physically speaking.”

“Let me guess, dark blue skin, white hair, red eyes?” Kaelie smiled when Magnus nodded. “There’s a reason mundanes always called us the Light Fairies while the Unseelie were the Dark ones. They live underground, their magic is mostly earth and fire based while ours prefers air and water. Their connection to the earth is the reason their appearance is so dark and why they rarely come out of their Court.”

“So we can expect something like a cave?”

“I don’t know, that’s a part of the Fairy Kingdom I never visited. I just know how to enter.”

“Well,” Alec said after a moment of silence. “Shall we? And let’s hope this isn’t just some elaborate trap.”

“Alec…” Magnus started but the blue eyed Shadowhunter interrupted him.

“I’m sorry, but what’s happening it’s too huge for me to just jump in and trust anybody.” He turned to Kaelie, his posture definitely stiff. “You may be helping us, but I’ll trust you when we have Will back, not sooner. I know what Jace promised you and I’ll honour my _parabatai’s_ word about your safety. I just don’t know you enough to blindly trust your word yet.”

Kaelie sighed but she nodded. “I get it, I really do. I wouldn’t trust anybody as well, were I you. But I’m not leading you into a trap and I’m not deceiving you, my neck is on the line here, just like yours. If my brother or any fairy finds out what I’m doing, I’m as good as dead.”

“This isn’t going anywhere.” Magnus said with an air of finality. “Trap or not, we’re still going. We don’t have a choice, time is running out.” He turned to the pixie. “Shift us and then go away. I glamoured you so nobody can recognise you but let’s not put my magic on the test in this case. When we’re done, I’ll portal us out.”

Kaelie nodded and nobody added the obvious: if they didn’t come back, Jace and the others were to assume they were either prisoners or, more probably, dead.

***

Kaelie was gone. True to his words, Magnus had sent her away as soon as she made them shift into the Fairy Kingdom and now he and Alec were alone. They weren’t in a pretty place: it was a cave, dark and damp, low enough that they just needed to raise their hands to touch the ceiling. The only source of light was Alec’s witchlight and they were proceeding cautiously, minding where they were putting their feet.

“So,” Alec asked, keeping his voice low. “You never told me what made you so mad that you befriended an Unseelie fairy.”

“Is this really the time for that, Alexander?” Magnus looked at him but the Shadowhunter didn’t turn, all his senses intent on catching the smallest change around them.

“At least now Alicante isn’t collapsing around us and I’m not asking why you didn’t call me back.” Alec answered, a hint of humour in his voice.

Magnus rolled his eyes, hiding a smile. He loved that side of his boyfriend, he loved how he managed to draw out the fun side of him during the years they spent together. Alec was almost a different person now and he loved him more than ever. He shrugged, thinking about those dark years but decided to explain anyway: this was Alec, and he trusted him with his life.

“It was a lot of things together, but mainly it all goes back to two events: the discussion about the Accords in 1857 and your ancestor, Edmund Herondale.”

“Herondales everywhere.” Alec muttered, shaking his head. “Didn’t you know a William Herondale as well?”

“William was Edmund’s son.” Magnus nodded. “I suppose Jace named his son after him, when he learnt about his lineage from Tessa, years ago. You come from Cecily Herondale, William’s sister, and Gabriel Lightwood.”

“William was Jace’s father middle name. Maybe that’s another reason why he chose that. Anyway what happened to Edmund Herondale to piss you off so much?”

“The Nephilim cast him out when he fell in love with a mundane girl.” The warlock stopped moving, recalling that awful day when he heard about Edmund for the last time. “I was at the Institute the day they stripped him of his Marks. I heard his cries, his grief and pain. They told me that if I tried to help him, they would kill me.”

Alec turned around to look at him, but didn’t say anything.

“It hadn’t been a good time for me: I just met Camille, just sent her on Ralf Scott’s way and the Shadowhunters demonstrated once again how they really regarded us Downworlders. But when I heard Edmund, when I couldn’t do anything to help him, something in me snapped. I started thinking that if the Nephilim, our supposed protectors, were so heartless to punish a boy just because he had fallen in love, then there was no hope. If respecting the rules meant only sorrow and pain, then what was the point? I was never a good boy but I crossed the line that time and never looked back until it was almost too late.”

There was a long moment of silence, but then Alec squeezed Magnus arm and nodded. “The Law can be hard, I know. There are reasons for what we do, but that doesn’t mean I like it. Between me and my siblings, we certainly defied enough rules to prove that. What made you change your mind?”

Magnus smiled sadly but never got to answer as the earth around them started trembling and the shadows on the cave walls ran around like crazy, concentrating in a spot that gradually grew larger and larger, until it took a human form.

Alec stood before Magnus, drawing his seraph blade and quietly naming it. It shone in the dark, brighter than any witchlight and allowed them to see the shadow detach from the cave and calmly walking to them.

It was a woman, a gorgeous fairy with sharp features, bright red, blazing eyes and a skin so dark it was almost black. Her white hair was framing her oval face and a smirk was on her lips.

“Yes, Magnus.” She said, coldly smiling at the warlock. “What made you change your mind?”

Magnus sighed and moved from behind Alec, a resigned look in his eyes. “Hello Spyra. It’s been a long time.”

“Indeed.” The fairy smiled again, sending a cold shiver down on Alec’s back. That wasn’t the kind of smile he would define as “friendly”. “Why don’t you tell your pet to lower his glowing toothpick so I can properly greet you?”

_Pet? Toothpick?_ Alec took a step forward, ready to reply, but Magnus hand on his arm stopped him. They discussed this before, they knew the Unseelie fairies were always trying to pick up a fight and they decided to let Magnus do all the talk. Alec was there merely for protection.

“He won’t attack unless someone tries to harm me. Look at him as my personal bodyguard.”

The fairy raised her eyebrow. “Things change, uh? You couldn’t stand the Nephilim when we met.”

“Yeah, well, it’s been two hundred years.” Magnus shrugged, picking up something from his pocket. It was a brown leaf, dead and withered with a burned S on the front. “Do you remember this?”

Spyra raised a hand to pick the leaf and watched Alec with amusement as the Shadowhunter repressed the instinct to slap her hand away. “My token. It’s what lead me to you, as soon as you entered the Unseelie Court I was aware of its presence. Took you long enough to miss me, warlock.”

To Alec’s surprise, Magnus laughed. “Spyra, trust me when I say I never really forgot about you. But you’re a dangerous company and I think I exhausted all my bad boy cards in those few years with you.”

“That’s a pity.” The fairy advanced, winding like a snake and put her hands behind Magnus neck, licking her lips. “You had so much potential…”

That was too much. Alec stepped forward and separated them. “Hey, hands off my man, fairy.”

Spyra widened her eyes and then burst out laughing. “Oh Magnus, really? A Nephilim? Is he a good fuck at least? He must be, or you wouldn’t lower yourself that much.”

“That’s enough Spyra.” The warlock cut her off before Alec could say anything, but he could see the dangerous glint in his eyes. He had to take control before this went too far. He pointed his finger to the leaf in Spyra’s hand. “Do you remember why you gave me that?”

“Yes, yes, I do.” The fairy was still laughing but it was a cruel sound, a sarcastic one. “You saved my life, I owed you one, blah blah blah. Is that why you came, to collect the debt? And here I thought you missed me.”

“I need to talk with the King, Spyra.” Magnus said, straight to the point. “I need an audience and I need him to listen to me. Can you make it happen?”

That stopped the fairy. Her red eyes studied the warlock and then the Shadowhunter. “Interesting. Downworld reasons or Nephilim ones?”

“Both actually. We need the Unseelie King’s knowledge on something important.”

“It must be, if you’re desperate enough to come here, after the peace treaty.” She never stopped studying them, suddenly all business, then she turned to Alec. “Do you really think the Fair Folk will help you with whatever you need after the way you treated us?”

“Yes, I know nobody is friends with the Nephilim lately, not after the last war.” Magnus replied without missing a beat. “They call it the Cold Peace for a reason.”

“Well, it was their own doing.” Spyra shrugged. “Nobody forced them to basically destroy us. No wonder the rest of the Downworlders can’t trust them anymore. In the end, the Shadowhunters were always more about revenge than forgiveness, something the Shadow World didn’t want to be reminded about.”

“I had nothing to do with it, Spyra.” Magnus held out his hands. “If anything, I was the only one who asked for mercy but they didn’t listen. I’m a Downworlder, just like you are, and that’s why I’m here.”

“With a Nephilim pet.” She noted.

“He wouldn’t let me come alone.” Magnus admitted. “But I’ll send him away if this will grant me an audience with the King.”

“No way!” Alec exploded, unable to hold his tongue any longer. “I’m not leaving you here alone, forget about it.”

“No, no, don’t worry Pet.” The fairy smiled, an evil glint in her eyes. “I’m always up for some fun and a Nephilim begging our King for something is bound to be _very_ funny.”

“I’m not going to beg anyone.” He replied, his jaw set.

“Oh you will, Pet…” Spyra smiled again. “My brother will want you grovelling on the ground before he even listens to what you have to say, and then he’ll have you lick his boots while he thinks about your questions.”

“Spyra.” Magnus said, a quiet threat in his voice. “Don’t overdo it. Besides I’ll be the one to do the talking, not him. And since when the Unseelie King is your brother?”

“Why, he always was, Magnus, you just never thought to ask.” She smirked and then turned around, walking away. “Come on, then, I can’t wait to see how this goes.”


	15. The Unseelie Court

Spyra was leading them through a maze of corridors that had more turns than Alec could count. He gave up after a while, realising that confusing them was the exact purpose of the fairy. When he voiced that, keeping his tone as neutral as he could, Spyra smirked at him.

“See it this way, Pet. It was either the long way, or I had to blindfold you. To be honest the blindfold is always tricky, I have to guide you step by step, make sure you actually don’t see anything—I’m not interested in wasting that kind of time. So I chose the long tour. Are you tired of walking?”

Alec didn’t bother to reply, choosing to focus on the surroundings instead. With every step they were apparently leaving the caves behind and heading toward a more civilised part of the Fairy Kingdom: the floor was now paved and not simple stone, flaming red crystals were embedded everywhere in the ceiling, their only source of light. There was still musk and dirt on the walls and the crimson light just made the whole atmosphere depressing and gloomy.

“You’re keeping up a glamour,” Magnus noted as they were walking. He always knew Spyra was a magic user and a powerful one. It was part of her charm. “I can sense the magic. What are you doing?”

Spyra was walking fast with a concentrated expression in her eyes. “Even though I’m taking you on the long way, I don’t want you to see the Court like it really is and anyway you don’t need to; I doubt you’ll come back here, especially uninvited. _If_ you leave here alive—although that only applies to your Pet here.”

“Are you threatening me?” Alec asked quietly. The seraph blade was still glowing in his hand and he was ready to use it.

Spyra just smirked. “I have a debt towards Magnus Bane: he saved my life years ago and I gave him that token so he could ask me a favour in return. Fairies don’t like to have debts with anybody. But you are nothing to me Nephilim and I won’t vouch for you with the King. Whether or not you leave here with your head on your shoulders, it’s entirely up to him.”

“I think you’d find I’m quite attached to my head. Can you say the same for the rest of your kind, if they were to attack me?” Alec’s voice was still quiet but Magnus recognised Jace’s lines in his speech. Even after all those years, Alec held in high consideration his _parabatai_, trying to resemble him at least in combat. He wondered absent-mindedly if Alec would ever realise he was a great man just the way he was, not needing to emulate anyone.

“Oh, you’re a feisty one.” The fairy laughed. “Maybe I like you a little more now.”

Just ahead of them there was a huge door made of glowing steel: it was polished and carved with strange symbols Alec didn’t recognise. Spyra stopped in front of it and turned around.

“Here we are. A word of advice, Magnus: keep your Pet on a very short leash. My brother doesn’t like the Shadowhunters, he never did.”

She took a step back and opened the door wide, walking in with a confident stride.

Magnus understood Spyra’s words as soon as they entered the throne room and grabbed Alec’s arms immediately, squeezing it with an almost bruising strength. Looking at him, he realised he had been just in time, as Alec’s eyes widened in disgust and fury, his whole body tense with the need to jump ahead and just start killing.

“What... what is this? How can they—” He whispered before Magnus shot him a warning glance.

“Don’t speak. Don’t say anything. They are just waiting for you to make a mistake, don’t give them the opportunity. Let me do the talking.”

The Unseelie throne room was horrible. Panels as red as blood were hanging on the walls and the omnipresent crimson crystals on the ceiling contributed to plunge the room in a low, languid, red light. It was like the air was ready to burst in flame and as Magnus and Alec advanced to the throne, the warlock had to remind himself about the task they were trying to accomplish; tearing the place apart wouldn’t do William any good.

Cages were hanging above the ground, circular, low cages made of hard iron and in those cages, crouched and wailing, Seelie fairies were imprisoned, their cries of pain resonating in the throne room. Men, women, but mercifully not children, they were endlessly wailing as the iron of the cage was pressed in their naked flesh, burning and scorching. The Unseelie fairies didn’t even glance at them as they were talking and laughing while they were served food and drinks from chained slaves, also Seelie fairies. As much as Alec didn’t trust her, he was suddenly glad Kaelie wasn’t there to witness the horrible torture her people was subjected to.

Spyra walked straight to the throne where the King was seated: tall and dark, he had flowing white hair neatly tied behind his head and his blazing eyes never left his two guests even while his sister was approaching.

“Your Majesty,” she laughed stopping and kneeling before him, “I bring you fun, something to play with in this fair night.”

“I see,” the King replied, looking at his sister, “and where did you find your toys, my princess?”

“Long ago, when I decided to take a look at the human world, I met this warlock. We had some fun before you recalled me here and I gave him a token because—” she seemed a little uneasy and that was a first for Alec, “well, because he saved my life. Now he’s come to collect his debt, so I can’t even kill him. The Nephilim is his lover and he chose to go with him. I’ll not take responsibility for his presence here, or his well being.”

“Well.” The Unseelie King raised his eyes and licked his lips, his eyes sparkling in amusement. “So, we have Magnus Bane and his dear Alexander Lightwood. How nice of you to come here and delight me with your presence.”

“You know who we are.” Magnus said, trying to keep his face straight.

“If you wish to keep your people detached from the world, then you must know as much as you can about that world, warlock.” He smiled at them and just like with Spyra, Alec felt his fingers twitch on the hilt of his Seraph blade, ready to strike. That creature was pure evil, he could almost smell it, and it was disgusting.

“I would be a very poor King if I didn’t know the names of the people in the famous group who saved our world from Sebastian Morgenstern.” The King continued. “And just for that, and just this once, you get to walk away with your life. You and your Nephilim. I’m feeling generous tonight.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Magnus bowed his head and Alec was suddenly grateful he agreed to let him talk because there was no way he would be able to show curtsy to that monster who called himself a king. “I take it that you disagreed with the Seelie Queen involvement with Sebastian Morgenstern?”

“Did you see even one Unseelie fairy fight alongside those weaklings?” The King enquired with an amused smile. “We had nothing to do with that. And yet the entirety of our race was condemned because of that bitch and her human lover. I heard you were the only one who pleaded for mercy for the Fair Folk?”

“Indeed Your Majesty. Not that it was of much use, but yes.”

“Well, what do you want warlock? We just captured a new batch of Seelie fairies and I’m dying to pay them a visit.” He licked his lips again and Alec knew for a fact that he was eager to get to torture them as well.

Magnus’ eyes sparkled in anger but he quickly hid it. “I came to seek your wisdom Majesty. And while humbly looking for an answer to my question, I also offer you the opportunity to destroy a plan carefully crafted by the Seelie Queen.”

The King was silent for a minute, then he raised a hand and snapped his fingers; just like that, one by one, the Unseelie fairies in the throne room left, until only the caged prisoners remained. Spyra didn’t leave, standing at the right of the throne.

“For my protection,” was all the King said, pointing at his sister. She smirked and Magnus didn’t doubt she was ready to toast them if they made a wrong movement.

“So, now that we’re alone.” The King leaned back on the throne, crossing his legs. “I’m always up for some fun at the expense of my fair, fair cousin. Ask me your question and I’ll decide if it’s worth an answer.”

_This is it,_ Magnus thought. _Here it goes, all or nothing._

He breathed deeply and asked. “Is there a way to permanently heal a person infected with the Kohl poison? I know the antidote consists in drinking the Kohl tea everyday, but I wish to heal it once and for all.”

“Interesting.” The King joined his hands in his lap, narrowing his eyes. “Who’s the poisoned one?”

They had debated this, before leaving for the Unseelie Court: they knew the King would ask for more informations but Clary was unwilling to give him the details. Yet, the Unseelie fairies were known for their temper and if they wished to get an answer they couldn’t afford to deny the King anything he wanted to know. So Magnus replied, even though unwillingly.

“The Seelie Queen abducted a Nephilim child and poisoned him with the Kohl poison. We can’t rescue him because the only antidote we know is growing in the Fairy Kingdom and the child would die without it.”

“A Nephilim child.” The King looked thoughtful. “And why would she steal and poison him?”

“To blackmail his parents. They crossed the Queen and this is her revenge.”

Spyra bent down whispering something in her brother’s ears and he raised an eyebrow. “Ah, that’s clear then.”

“So,” his gaze went back to Magnus, “my sister brought to my attention that you may be talking about the Herondale child. Is it right? I heard he died six months ago, he was not even two years old. His death could have been a deception though. And his father is your pet’s brother. It makes sense.”

“Yes,” Magnus answered, knowing there was no use in denying it. “I’m talking about William Herondale.”

A small smile played on the King’s lips. “And what would you do if you could cure the child? What would come next? I’m asking you, Nephilim.”

Alec looked at Magnus and when the warlock nodded he turned to answer the King. “We would go and get my nephew back. We would fight our way in, if necessary.”

“Pure Shadowhunter style.” The fairy nodded. “And what would happen to the Seelie Queen?”

“Probably a trial. We’ll have to involve the Clave to rescue my nephew and that means the story will go public. They’ll want to punish her for what she did.”

The King smiled again and looked at Alec. “My services, or in this case my knowledge don’t come for free. Are you willing to pay my price? You could not like what I want in exchange for your answer.”

“Name it.” The blue eyed boy firmly said, trying not to hope too much. It all could be just a ploy to make fun of him. And yet if the King was talking about his price, maybe he indeed _had_ an answer...

“If I help you, there will be no trial. I don’t want the Queen captured, I want her dead.”

Alec’s heart started beating faster: so there _was_ a cure! He tried to contain his excitement and keep his face straight as he replied: “That will probably be the outcome anyway. She kidnapped one of ours, the Clave won’t show any mercy.”

“No, little Pet.” Alec was getting tired of being called a pet. He was a Shadowhunter, not a cat! The King continued, his voice icy cold now. “I don’t want her to stand a trial and be executed. I want her to die in her Court, where she most feels safe. I don’t care who kills her, I don’t care how you do it, but I want her head. Quite literally perhaps. I think I’d like to hang it just above my throne, as a trophy.”

The Nephilim stopped for a second, biting his lip: as much as he wanted the Queen dead, he always envisioned her death to be part of the Clave justice: a trial, and then the sentence. This was murder, something he wasn’t accustomed to. He remembered the first time he did it, when he killed Meliorn with his bow. He remembered how cold he felt, how detached. It wasn’t a feeling he wanted to experience again, but he did it for Magnus that time, because he was in danger and the Fairy Knight had been the one who kidnapped him. This time, Will’s life was on the line, sweet, innocent William. He couldn’t—_wouldn’t_—hesitate.

“Deal.” He said, nodding. “There will be no trial.”

“Excellent.” The King clasped his hands, his eyes betraying his excitement. “I would have my dear sister follow you in the attack to make sure you keep the bargain, but if you swear to me on your Angel that you’ll kill the Seelie Queen during the rescue, I won’t.”

Alec breathed deeply. “There will be no need. I swear on the Angel the Seelie Queen will die when we go for William.” He thought about it for a second, then he added. “Provided that she doesn’t manage to escape somehow. But it looks unlikely.”

Spyra laughed and suddenly she winked at him. “I really think I like you now, Pet. Not many dare to negotiate an oath to the Unseelie King.”

“I’m not done.” The King continued. “There’s another condition: I want the Clave to acknowledge our complete detachment from the Seelie Court. We may be all fairies, but we’re nothing like them. I want the Clave to treat us like two separate entities, not a single nation. Do you understand, Nephilim?”

“You want the peace treaty to not apply to you.” Alec slowly said. “You want your own army back, you want back under the Covenant.”

“I can’t care less about the Covenant, Shadowhunter.” The fairy laughed. “It’s more about principles. I’m sure you see what I think of our fair cousins.” He pointed at the prisoners in the cages, making Alec grit his teeth. “I don’t want my people associated with them in any way.”

“This requires a work inside the Clave, something that can’t be achieved immediately. We will need meetings, you’ll need to send an envoy to the Clave to negotiate.”

“And I will. When I do, though, you’ll be there with your family to sustain my claims and you’ll fight for them. Deal?”

It took just a moment for Alec to nod his acceptant and when he did, Magnus decided to press on. “Do we have a deal then? A definite cure for William in exchange for your terms?”

The King nodded. “Just know that if you don’t keep your oath, I won’t forget it. You’ll think you’re safe, you’ll think you’re happy, but then I’ll strike and I’ll destroy everything you care about.”

“I swore on the Angel.” Alec quietly said, his blue eyes directly looking at the fairy. “That’s the Shadowhunters most sacred oath. One we never break. Don’t threaten me or I’ll make a different kind of oath—and I’ll keep it as well.”

He didn’t add anything else but the meaning was clear: if the Unseelie King ever dared to come after the people he loved, Alec wouldn’t stop until he killed him.

“Your Majesty,” Magnus said, trying to break the tension: it wasn’t wise to threaten the Unseelie King in his throne room. “I take it that a cure for the Kohl poison indeed exists?”

The fairy looked at him and slowly smiled. It was horrible and cruel and Magnus struggled to keep his composure. “No, it doesn’t. There’s no way to permanently cure the poison.”

It was like being suddenly plunged in icy water: Alec and Magnus froze, unable to breath, move or speak for a moment. The King looked at them, obviously pleased by their reaction and then added: “But you don’t need to. The child isn’t poisoned.”

Silence again, then Magnus carefully repeated: “You say the child isn’t poisoned. I saw him sick though, with the Kohl poison symptoms. And an antidote was delivered that made him feel better for a couple of days.”

“Oh I don’t doubt that he was indeed injected with the poison. But almost nobody knows that the Kohl poison doesn’t permanently affect children, not before they hit puberty. There’s something in their bodies that rejects the poison: it makes them sick for around twenty days, showing every symptom but it doesn’t kill them. And then the body heals.”

“What about the antidote?”

“The Kohl tea helps in getting rid of the poison and it negates the symptoms. But anyway, antidote or not, the child will always heal by himself.”

A thick silence fell in the throne room and Spyra looked at the two pale men before her: there was something glorious in watching the realisation coming in their eyes, when her brother’s words hit home.

“Was it a trick then?” Alec whispered, his eyes wide. “Was this for nothing? William never risked dying?”

“Apparently not.” Magnus replied, pinching the bridge of his nose. “And it actually makes sense considering the Queen needed Will.”

“Yes.” Alec murmured. “Yes, she wouldn’t want him dead. By the Angel, when Jace will know...”

“Let’s talk about this later.” Magnus shot him a warning glance and turned to the King again. “Your Majesty, I suppose the Queen was well aware of this limitation in the Kohl poison?”

“I’m sure she was,” he answered. “I wouldn’t expect any less.”

“But why wouldn’t the poison kill a child?” Alec asked. “How can we be sure William will be safe if we get him out of the Seelie Court?”

The King snorted. “Why can’t a mundane drink from the Mortal Cup after he’s eighteen? Or why can’t two Shadowhunters bond as _parabatai_ after that? We don’t always have an explanation, Nephilim. We just know that the body of a child will reject the poison, but we don’t know _why_. And you can be doubtful, but remember that I’m a fairy. I can’t lie.”

“That is true.” Magnus slowly said. Of course there was the possibility that the Unseelie King was a half human like Kaelie, but the warlock knew it was unlikely: nobody save the purest bloodlines could be King or Queen. So it was true, the threat on William’s life had been fake, he was healed, healthy, ready to be rescued.

Magnus straightened his back noticing that Alec was doing the same; they were on the same page, as always.

“Thank you Your Majesty. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. We will leave now, with your permission.”

“Spyra will lead you outside, I won’t let you use a Portal from here.” The King lazily looked at them, focusing on Alec. “I’m looking forward to hear about your rescue mission, Nephilim. Don’t disappoint me.”

Alec looked about to reply but chose not to say anything. When he saw Magnus bow his head to the King, he did the same and then they followed Spyra outside. As soon as the steel door was closed and he couldn’t hear the wailing fairies anymore, he exhaled a silent sigh of relief; keeping his composure while all he wanted to do was tear the place apart and destroy those awful cages, had been nearly impossible. Every second he had to remind himself they needed the King, they needed his knowledge, that William needed his uncle to keep his cool and deliver the news to his parents but it had been one of the hardest thing he ever did. Leaving someone to suffer, witness their pain without acting was so alien to his nature that he felt physically sick.

“Well, that went well, right?” Spyra cheerfully said while guiding them out. “See? No groveling, no boot licking. You caught my brother on one of his good days, Pet.”

“You did it on purpose, did you?” He couldn’t hold it inside anymore. He had to know. “The glamour. You kept it up so we couldn’t see the Court but you dropped it in the throne room. You wanted us to see the cages. You wanted _me_ to see them.”

A cold smile graced Spyra’s lips. “I like when you act smart, Pet. Of course I did. Were you not entertained?”

“Why would you do that?”

“Well, to be honest, I wanted to have some fun.” She giggled and it was horrible. “What did you value most? The quest that brought you here or our little guests in their cages? You didn’t disappoint but I knew you wouldn’t. It isn’t the first time a Nephilim turns his head and pretends not to see.”

“But why?” He was horrified and ashamed because it was true: he _had_ chosen William over those prisoners, he _had_ chosen not to see. He left them there to suffer. “Why are you doing this to other fairies?”

“Would it be different if they were vampires? Or werewolves?” Spyra raised her eyebrow, a mocking smile on her lips.

“It wouldn’t be different even if they were Endarkened!” He shouted, finally losing it. “What kind of—monster does that to somebody else? Even an enemy? This is torture!”

“Alec...” Magnus tried to stop him, but Spyra just laughed.

“Oh, Pet, you’re so funny.” She stopped walking and directly confronted the Shadowhunter. “We’re the Unseelie fairies. We are connected with the earth and the fire, and we _are_ earth and fire. We have them in our veins, we’re passionate and hard and even cruel, if you want to look at it like that. The Seelie fairies are weak. They are soft and pitiful and yet they managed to bring our entire race down with them. We don’t forget, Pet. We don’t forgive. We are an ancient, proud people, and we deal with traitors and shame in our way. You don’t like it? You’re welcome to turn around and leave. Or do you plan to wage war against us? I fear you would find out we’re pretty tough to kill.”

He was about to attack. He would draw his Seraph blade and use it, for the first time, on someone who wasn’t a demon. Because this person, this fairy, didn’t deserve to live, nor did her cruel King. His hand went to the hilt but suddenly Magnus was there, keeping himself between him and Spyra. He was there, looking deep in those blue eyes, keeping them chained on himself. He was there, whispering his nephew and son’s names, begging him not to react, not now.

“So what will it be, Pet? Do you wish to test my magic here and now, or are you going home like a good boy?” Spyra’s eyes were raging, looking forward to the fight, that mocking smile still on her face.

Alec took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Let’s get out of here. Now.”

“How disappointing.” She laughed but resumed walking, not even turning once. He didn’t know whether to feel relieved that she wasn’t taunting him further or angry because it looked like she wasn’t afraid in the slightest of having a pissed off Shadowhunter right behind her.

Soon enough they were under the sky again and Spyra turned to them once more. “It was a pleasure to see you again Magnus, even though you changed so much. I don’t recommend you coming back though, your free ticket has expired.”

The warlock nodded but didn’t smile. “I doubt you’ll see me again.”

“As for you, Pet, a word of advice.” Her face turned serious and so did her voice. “Take a tour in your library and check some of the Nephilim history: you will find that your people committed lots of atrocities during the centuries. So don’t act so high and might, because in no way you’re better than us.”

And then, just like that, she was gone, vanished in thin air. Alec looked around noticing they weren’t that far from the Institute and started walking without a word.

“One day,” he finally said, looking at the moon up in the sky, just as they were about to cross the threshold, “when this is all over I’ll go back there, Magnus. I’ll go back, I’ll burn that place to ashes and I’ll kill the Unseelie King and his sister.”

He felt a hand slip in his own and revelled in his boyfriend’s warmth, allowing it to slip in his heart to replace the hatred that was growing in him.

“I know,” was all Magnus said, “my Alec, I know.”


	16. Waiting in the wings

“I’m going crazy.” Isabelle muttered, lashing her whip on the dummy right in front of her. The whip curled around its neck and when she sharply pulled at it, the dummy’s head soundlessly fell down.

“Izzy, we need those dummies, you know.” Simon quietly breathed behind her, sitting down on the floor in the training room. It had been an hour since Kaelie came back telling them Alec and Magnus were now in the Unseelie Court and even though in the beginning they just stayed all together, waiting for news, as the time went by they all grew restless to the point Isabelle felt the need to work off some steam.

“I don’t know how you can be so calm.” She accused, lashing her whip again. “My brother is down in that hellhole and you’re freaking _relaxed_!”

Simon sighed standing up and when Isabelle felt his arms around her waist and his solid body behind her, she stiffened.

“I’m not relaxed.” He whispered in her ear. “I’m scared, just like you are. And I’m nervous and I’m thinking about all the kind of stuff that could go wrong—” He strengthened his hold on her when he felt she was trying to get out of his embrace. “But Alec was the best choice and you know that. He’s the most quiet person I know, he’s good at keeping his cool and you need to be calm when bargaining with the Fair Folk. Magnus is with him and he won’t let anything happen to either of them. I promise you.”

“I should have gone with him.” She murmured, leaning her head on his shoulder. She stopped struggling and put her hands on his. “I can’t stand being here and just waiting.”

“I know.” He kissed her temple and sighed. “Waiting is always the hardest part. But they’ll be back and they’ll have the answer we seek. And then we’ll go down and get Will back.”

“If only we could just jump to that part, right?” She smiled and closed her eyes. “I never thought I would feel that way, but the Institute is so empty since William’s gone.”

“Babies do that.” Simon quietly laughed, resting his head on her shoulder. “They fill your life with something you never realised you were missing and then you ask yourself how you could have lived to that day without them.”

Isabelle stilled again and then intertwined their fingers. “You know... I never thought about children. I mean, even now that the Academy is open again and we’re actively recruiting mundanes to turn with the Mortal Cup, we’re still definitely short of Shadowhunters. So I always knew one day I would become a mother, that’s what is expected of me. But I never _really_ thought about it. And when William was born, I asked myself if I would be capable of caring for him, loving him the way Clary and Jace did, put him at the centre of my world. Then when he was gone—”

She turned around, still keeping their fingers joined. “I vowed I would never have children.”

She felt Simon go as still as a statue and she raised her dark gaze to him. “It was too painful. To think about devoting my life to someone who could be so easily taken away from me—it was unbearable. I saw what it did to my brother and Clary. I saw the life being sucked out of them, their eyes go empty. It was so horrible, it reminded me about when we lost Max.”

“Oh Izzy—” Simon gently gathered her in his arms, crossing his hands on her back. “You should have told me.”

“I didn’t know how.” She whispered in his chest. “I thought you wouldn’t understand, that you would be angry.”

He caressed her soft hair, inhaling her scent. Sometimes he felt so privileged that Isabelle trusted him enough to allow him to see her in her weakest moments: it was something she reserved only for her family, to the outside world she was the unstoppable Isabelle Lightwood, the fierce Shadowhunter goddess with a heart made of pure steel and flame.

“I think it’s natural.” He answered. “When you lose someone, when you experience heartbreak, you lose something of yourself as well. And then you’re so scared you don’t ever want to feel that way again.”

He disengaged from the embrace and cupped her face in his hands, looking at her beautiful eyes. “But life goes on, you know? Do you remember when we first knew about Tessa? When she told us about Will Herondale and about her life with him? She must have been heartbroken when he died, and yet now she’s with Jem, loving him, living her life with him. One day she’ll lose him too and she’ll be heartbroken again, but this hasn’t stopped her from wanting him _now_.” He laughed a bit, tracing his thumbs on her cheeks. “Have you ever heard about that say: ‘it’s better to love and lose than to never love?’ I suppose that’s it.”

“That easy?” She weakly smiled.

“That easy.” He confirmed. Then, as usual, he got lost in her gaze, those eyes shining like dark diamonds, and he caressed her while leaning down to plant a sweet kiss on her lips. She sighed in his mouth and closed her arms behind his neck, pulling him to her until his hands shifted on her bottom lifting her up and her legs locked around his waist. The kiss stopped being soft and some moments later Simon left her lips, his breaths heavy and fast.

“Is the door closed, milady?”

“Locked, Lord Montgomery.” She smiled.

“Good.”

***

Back in the library Clary was sitting down, trying without success to read a book while Jace was sitting beside her, absently caressing her back and Kaelie was in the far corner of the table, looking anywhere but at them. As much as she knew her and Jace were never meant to be, it was a bit painful to watch him with Clary, to witness the absolute adoration in his eyes when he looked at her. Even now that they weren’t talking or gazing at each other, he seemed unable to stop touching her or keeping her close.

Clary suddenly started, the blood leaving her face: her phone was ringing, buzzing in the pocket of her jeans. She knew who it was but she had to answer anyway. As always.

Jace and Kaelie went still and Clary took a deep breath, standing up before taking the phone out.

“What.” She coldly said, without any greeting.

“Where the fuck are you.” Jiliel asked, equally cold.

“I’m at the Institute.”

“Come back _now_.”

The hold on her phone tightened as Clary bit her lip almost enough to draw blood. “I can’t. Not tonight.”

“Don’t push it, Clary. Was the last lesson not enough for you?” His voice was full of threat, as cold as ice.

“I told you I can’t. I was invited to stay the night and I couldn’t refuse.”

“And who the fuck gave you permission? You should know by now, sweetheart: you are not free to make your own decisions.”

“Your sister.” Clary played her card, just like they had previously planned. They knew this would happen but Jace had been adamant in not allowing her back to her apartment, even risking their cover to be destroyed. He just wouldn’t let her near Jiliel again, not after what he did last time. When Kaelie was told about the beating, she was the one who suggested they used her as excuse for Clary staying at the Institute: when Clary and Jace were concerned, Kaelie had the same weight of Jiliel in calling the shots.

“Is she there?” He asked after a moment of silence. “Put her on the phone.”

The fairy nodded, turning around and putting the phone to her ear just as Jace took Clary’s hand in his own. He hated what he was seeing: Clary had always been a strong woman, even when they first met and she found herself thrown in a world she knew nothing about. She was brave, she was strong willed, she never hesitated. This woman? She was so different. After the breakdown, everything had come to the surface, crushing her beneath its weight: the grief of losing her only son, the pain in being torn apart from Jace, the abuse by Jiliel, turned her into something he didn’t want to acknowledge. She jumped at every noise, she stiffened every time someone touched her and he could feel she was desperate to hold his hand but at the same time she wanted to pull away and hide somewhere far from him. Jiliel destroyed her. It would take a long time to heal her, and he didn’t even know if it was possible: would she ever return to her former self? Would they have their family back or was it forever shattered? Were they going to save William only to lose Clary in the process? What if she never overcame what Jiliel did to her?

Jace hated feeling powerless but short of staying close to Clary and make her feel loved and cared for, there was nothing else he could do right in that moment. They needed to get Will back first, so at least that piece of her heart would find relief. And then he would do anything, _anything_, to make her heal.

“Yes, it was me.” Kaelie was saying, her back turned on them. Her voice had changed, now it was as cold as her brother’s but her fingers were white with the strength she was holding the phone. “I’m staying for the night as well.” A pause. A long moment of silence, then Kaelie’s shoulders stiffened and her whole figure went still. “Because I want to. I think it will be fun to sleep here with Jace, with Clary just a few doors down the hall. Well, fun for _me_.”

Jace heard Clary sharply hold her breath and rubbed soothing circles on her back with his free hand. He knew what Kaelie was doing, she was trying to impersonate the perfect tormentor, like the Seelie Queen wanted. But he could see how much it was costing her, she looked ready to be sick.

“Besides, I know about your little “lesson” the other night.” Kaelie took a deep breath and continued. “No, she didn’t need to tell me, I saw it written all over her face. The look of fear in her eyes is priceless and I know what that means. I recognise your signature when I see it, brother.”

Jace could bet Jiliel was laughing on the other side. The bastard.

“Yes, really. But I would encourage you not to do it again. Clary didn’t show up yesterday and the Lightwoods noticed her absence. I suppose it took her two days to recover from what you did to her and that’s not wise. What if she was called to a Council meeting? You know the Queen doesn’t want her to miss anything.”

They talked for a few more minutes before Kaelie put the phone down, sighing. Then she turned to them. “It won’t last, you know. I can manage to give you a break for a night, maybe two, but no more or Jiliel will start asking questions.”

“Clary is not going back to that apartment.” Jace said, gritting his teeth.

“I will, if that’s what it takes.” It was no more than a whisper but Clary’s eyes were resolute.

“We’ll come up with something.” Kaelie waved her hand before Jace could reply. “But we need to act quick before he starts suspecting something is off. We don’t have much time.”

“All that matters is that we manage to save William.” Clary started pacing around, apparently restless. “I don’t care how much Jiliel beats me, I just want my son back. Then we can warn the Clave and they’ll put an end to the war before it even starts.”

“We need to come up with a plan for that.” Jace leaned back on a table. “We can’t just reveal everything or you’ll be punished. Maybe even killed.”

“I accepted that a long time ago, Jace.” Clary smiled, her lips curling into a sad curve. “They could throw me in the Silent City’s prison or they could strip me of my Marks and I’ll be back to being a mundane. If I survive. Sometimes I think it would be even better for me... go back to where I started.”

“You can’t be serious.” His eyes widened. “You would lose everyone, you know it’s against the Law to keep contact with a Shadowhunter who got turned into a mundane. I would follow you with Will of course, but—”

“Absolutely not!” Clary interrupted him with a shocked expression. “Don’t even think about that. Shadowhunting is your life, it always has been. It’s who you _are_, Jace.”

He sighed, walking to her and putting his hands on her shoulders. “Clary, you’re not the only one who thought about this for a long time. I always knew it as well. Wherever you go, I go too, be it the jail or the mundane life. I don’t care about the Shadow World if you’re not in it. _You_ are my life, Clary. You and Will.”

“But Izzy... Alec...”

“I would miss my family of course. My _parabatai_. But you’re the one thing I can’t live without, even if it means giving up everything else.”

She was about to reply when Kaelie sighed behind them. It was both a resigned sound and an exasperated one and they turned to her in surprise. “Nothing of this will be necessary. I’ll be the one relying the informations, so Clary won’t be charged with treason.”

Dead silence met her statement and she would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so serious. Kaelie crossed her arms on her chest and looked at them shaking her head. “Do you really think that I would let any of you be punished for something that was outside your control? The moment I decided to help you was the one I knew I would hand myself over to the Clave, whatever the cost.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying.” Clary whispered, suddenly pale. “They will likely just strip my Marks and revert me back to a mundane because I’m a Shadowhunter and I was the one who killed Sebastian years ago, but you? A Downworlder plotting against us? And a fairy, on top of that? Kaelie, they’ll kill you.”

“Well, you didn’t seem to care that much earlier today.” She smiled to take some bite off her sentence and then sighed. “Look, I know where this is going. But the truth is, I’ve not been at peace with myself since this whole story started. I have the chance to make this right and I’m going to take it.”

“She’s right.” Jace said, surprising them both. “She’s the one who should tell the Clave about the war.”

“But Jace!” Clary was astonished.

“I’m not saying we’ll let her die, Clary.” Kaelie looked at him raising her eyebrow and he continued. “Look, this is the best plan. Kaelie can tell the Clave about Will’s abduction and she can tell them she worked with us since then to try and save him and to find out the details of the attack. After all she’s just a court lady, not a spy, so it won’t be hard to persuade them it took her a long time to find everything out.”

“What if they decide to question us with the Mortal Sword?” Clary asked frowning.

“There’s no reason they would,” Jace answered running a hand through his hair. “A self confessed fairy, a war, an abduction... we’re the victims Clary, not the culprits. They will believe us, probably just because we’re Shadowhunters and this whole plot is a Fey one. Besides, we’ll get rid of every evidence.”

Jace turned to Kaelie. “Do you know where the Queen keeps the reports from Clary?”

“I’m not sure,” she shook her head. “But I guess in her room. She wouldn’t take them to the throne room, where people have access.”

“Alright.” Jace nodded and his voice took a tone Clary knew very well: this was strategic Jace, the one who devised plans and thought his way through everything. Sometimes she compared him to a general giving his troops his orders and then staying on the front lines to ensure his flawless strategy would be carried on. “I need you to draw a map of the Court, to devise the fastest path to the Queen’s room and to tell me the location of that trap door and how to open it. I’m sure it’s where she’ll retreat when we attack, because she thinks nobody knows about its existence. She’ll carry William with her, she’ll want to keep him close to her daughter. When we get there, we’ll search the room for the reports and we’ll destroy them so nobody can link Clary to this whole story.”

Kaelie paled and turned her back to them, clenching her fists so hard she felt her nails biting her palms. “You’re counting on my brother and my Queen to not survive the attack. They are the ones who could expose Clary and you know they will, if they are captured. You’re going to kill them.”

There was a long moment of silence before Clary’s cold voice filled it. “The Queen kidnapped my son and tortured us. Jiliel—you know what he did to me. You always knew it would come down to this, Kaelie. There’s no way you could not have known.”

“It’s just—” the fairy sighed, her head low. Yes she knew, they were right. The Queen’s demise was certain from the moment she decided to help Jace because the Clave would have her executed; she felt little remorse for that because it was actually the Queen’s acts that led her down that path and she was taking the whole Fey race with her. But her brother? He was ruthless, he was cruel, he was evil and he probably would kill her as soon as he knew about her betrayal, but he was _family_. Somehow, somewhere in her heart, she hoped he could just disappear, go live somewhere else, maybe exiled but still alive. And yet she knew that if somebody did to her what Jiliel did to Clary, she would hunt him down as well.

Jace said nothing but deep inside he was worried. What if Kaelie decided to back down now? He couldn’t allow Clary to hand herself over to the Clave, to face the consequences of that cruel blackmailing. And yet he could understand why Kaelie was hesitating: was that any different from him almost following Valentine at Renwick’s? Family ties could cloud your judgement, make you weak. And pushing her now could mean making her run.

Silence stretched as time passed and the pixie never moved, never talked, her eyes fixed on the floor. Jace and Clary waited close together, using every ounce of their Shadowhunter training not to panic and at last Kaelie moved without a word grabbing a pen and some paper from the table and starting drawing the map they wanted with short, neat lines. Nobody talked until the door opened again letting Simon and Isabelle in but neither of them interrupted the silence, sensing the tense atmosphere.

In the end, just when Kaelie was completing her map, her teeth gritted together so much that her jaw was hurting from the effort, the library door opened once more and Magnus came in with Alec.

Everybody turned to them, relief clearly written on their faces but it froze when they saw the fiery, furious spark in Alec’s eyes.

“It’s done,” the Shadowhunter said. “It’s time to get William back.”


	17. Alicante

They were shocked. After Alec and Magnus told them what happened at the Unseelie Court, nobody breathed for a minute, assimilating the information. Then Jace moved, faster then the wind, and swept Clary in his arms, holding her so tight that she had trouble to breath. Her arms instantly went to his neck, locking behind it and she held on hiding her face in his shoulder, shaking.

“He’s fine, oh Angel, William is not sick—” Jace whispered, his golden eyes shining with relief and happiness, an incredulous smile on his lips. It had all been a ploy, a cruel trick but at that moment it wasn’t important. All that mattered was that their child was not in danger, that they could be a family again.

They didn’t know for how long they stayed there, just hugging and whispering to each other, the relief washing over them in waves until they were breathless and on the verge of crying from the sudden realisation that the nightmare was almost over. There would time to curse and cry, to think about how wasted those months had been, to understand that they had never needed to leave their son with the fairies. But that was for later. Now only one thought filled their minds.

“Let’s go save our son,” Clary murmured at last, moving so that she could look at her husband. Her eyes were glossy with held back tears but her gaze was steady. “I want him back, _now_.”

Jace nodded and put her down, keeping an arm on her waist.

“I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t.” Kaelie said, as pale as a ghost. She looked like ready to cry. “Maybe Jiliel did, but I didn’t. Oh God, that’s so horrible—”

_You don’t know the half of it_, Alec thought, his lips pressed in a thin line. Neither him nor Magnus mentioned the prisoners in their cages and they were determined not to, with Kaelie around.

“I never expected it to be a trick.” Simon said, still shocked. Isabelle was just beside him, squeezing his hand to the point of breaking it since she heard the news. “The Seelie Queen gambled on the fact Jace and Clary would have never risked Will’s life.”

“And she was right.” Isabelle grimly replied. “But it makes sense since she’s using his blood to cure her daughter. Had we known about it sooner—” She was furious, looking ready to kill. All those months of suffering for nothing—Will’s “death” hadn’t affected just his parents, Simon recalled.

“So what now?” He asked, slipping one hand to Isabelle’s waist.

“Now we go to Idris.” Clary replied, looking at them. “Now we talk to the Consul and the Inquisitor, and my parents, and then we go get William back.”

“Now?” Simon widened his eyes. “Clary it’s night. We need a permission to portal to Alicante.”

“Has that ever stopped me before?” She took out her stele. “I don’t have time Simon. We need to act as quick as possible before Jiliel starts suspecting something is off. For now Kaelie has my back, but it can’t last long.”

“She’s right.” Jace nodded. “We need to go.” He didn’t add anything else, but he didn’t need to. How could they expect them to wait any longer? He was practically burning with the need to do _something_ right now. Will was healthy! If Jace could survive an attack to the Seelie Court alone, he would have already left to save his son.

“But we need a plan!” Alec protested. “Or are you willing to just spill the beans with our father and let Clary be imprisoned?”

“She won’t be.” Kaelie quietly said. She was still shacking, her blue eyes in shock. What happened was beyond cruel; poisoning a child was plain evil and she never approved of it, but tricking his parents and keeping him away from them under a false threat? Destroying their life when there was no real risk? That was inhuman.

“I’ll be the one talking with your Consul.” She continued, turning to Alec. “I owe you all at least this.”

“But—” He started, but Jace stopped him.

“It’s all set Alec. Clary will explain it all but in the meanwhile I’d like you to come with me for a moment please.” He moved out of the library and when the door closed behind his _parabatai_ he turned to him. “Now tell me the whole story. I know you held something back.”

“I did.” Alec nodded, his jaw set in anger. “And I’m glad you weren’t there because you wouldn’t have been able to refrain from doing a slaughter.” He shook his head in disgust. “That place is horrible and the Unseelie fairies are sick sadistic bastards: they keep Seelie fairies prisoners and they torture them, they enjoy their pain. I don’t know how I managed not to take out my bow and kill them all, they deserve it for sure. But I will. Someday I will. That is one race of Downworlders we can do without.”

Jace was stunned, he never heard his _parabatai_ talk like that. Whatever he saw was horrible enough to warrant a vengeful fury rarely shown by Alec.

“Sounds like it was a good decision not to let Kaelie go with you.” He cautiously commented and when Alec nodded, he asked. “So what did you promise to the King? What did he want?”

“The Seelie Queen’s head.” The Shadowhunter replied without blinking. “He wants her dead during the raid, he doesn’t want a Clave trial. And he wants the Clave to acknowledge that Seelie fairies and Unseelie ones are indeed different from each other and should not be subjected to the same treatment.”

“The first part is easily done.” Jace’s eyes narrowed. “Between me and Clary I doubt that bitch will survive the attack. I never willingly struck down a woman but what she did is unforgivable. I’m not willing to risk a trial and the possibility of a sentence different from death. I want her removed from our lives.”

“That’s what I thought as well.” Alec nodded even though he was still a bit uncomfortable about it.

“As for the second part I guess it will be easier than me trying to persuade the Clave to revise the peace accords.” Jace sighed. “But I promised Kaelie that I’d try and I will.”

“Are you sure about telling Jia and our father? I know we need the Clave’s permission to attack the Seelie Court but it’s risky.”

Jace ran a hand through his hair, obviously frustrated. “Trust me, if I could, I would avoid it. But even if we managed to save Will on our own, we would still have to explain how he’s still alive, while everybody think he’s dead. And that would be worse because they would be probably question us using the Mortal Sword. If Kaelie tells them of her own accord, it’s more believable and we may be spared a questioning. And I won't let anybody touch her. But Alec—” Jace looked directly in his eyes. It was painful, but he still had to say it. “If things go bad, if Clary is caught and they remove her Marks, I’ll go with her. We’ll take William and we’ll disappear, leaving the Shadow World for good.”

His _parabatai_ froze, his whole body stiff, his fists clenched at his sides. A tense moment passed before he found the strength to reply. “I wish I could yell at you, call you stupid and punch you until you see reason. I’d really like that. But I can’t because I know I’d do the same for Magnus.”

He put a hand on Jace’s shoulder and squeezed. “When we first met Clary I hated her. She made you act in a reckless way, you were suddenly so different from the usual you that I barely recognised you anymore. But then I realised she made you a better person, she gave you peace. And when Sebastian bound you to him, I felt like a part of me was missing, torn apart from my heart. I missed you, my _parabatai. _If I lose you again that hole in my heart will be painful, but I’ll gladly bear it if it means you’re happy. You need to stay where your soul is at peace and that place is where Clary is.”

Jace took a deep breath and then pulled Alec closer to hug him. He patted him on the back, keeping his brother as close as possible. “Thank you. I knew you’d understand.”

“I always knew that girl would bring trouble.” He smiled shaking his head. “Don’t tell Izzy before this is over, though. It may be unnecessary and you know how she feels about losing any of us. We have a battle to fight and she needs to be focused.”

Jace nodded, his heart suddenly lighter. Yes, he would suffer in leaving the Shadow World behind. It wasn’t just his job, it was part of his soul, his blood, his entire being. But he knew Alec would understand why he had to, why he would always choose Clary over anything else. Having his _parabatai’s_ blessing meant the world to him and even if he dreaded feeling that hideous void in his heart again, he knew he would never really lose Alec or Isabelle. They were his family and he was sure they wouldn’t give a damn about respecting the rules when it came to him. They would always be there for him. They would always be a part of his life. They would always be his siblings.

“Lightwoods, all together,” he whispered to himself, remembering that day when he woke up after Glorious burnt his bond with Sebastian away. Izzy’s tears, her grip on his hand. Yes, they would always be together, no matter what.

He smiled at Alec feeling love, pride, and a sweet sense of peace filling his heart, looking at his brother. “Let’s go before they leave us here.”

Alec laughed and they went back to the library shoulder by shoulder, together, like they would always be.

***

Alicante was silent that night as the seven of them quickly moved through the alleys to reach Amatis’ house where Jocelyn and Luke lived now. So far nobody saw them but to be sure Isabelle always walked in front, making sure the passages were free before telling the rest to come. If they were caught, they would be severely reprimanded but Magnus and Kaelie were Downworlders and they were there without the express approval of the Clave; they would be imprisoned in the blink of an eye.

The Glass City was as beautiful as ever but for the first time Clary wasn’t looking at it in awe, her mind set on one thing only. They could have been in the ugliest town in the world for all she cared. When at last they reached her parent’s house she breathed in relief and silently told the rest to wait for her, as she went to knock the door. It was a soft knock, meant to be as quiet as possible but she knew Luke would hear it. Clary waited, praying that her parents received the fire message Magnus sent earlier that night and when the door opened and she was dragged inside into a bear hug she smiled and closed her eyes.

“Oh thank the Angel.” She murmured into Luke’s chest, taking a quick glance around. Her mother was there, her eyes clouded with worry and just beside her the very people Clary needed, were standing with a guarded expression: Robert and Maryse Lightwood and Jia Penhallow.

“Are you alright? What’s with—” Luke started but Clary interrupted him.

“In a moment. The back window, Luke, open it. I’m not alone.”

“Clary what the—”

“The window, now!”

He narrowed his eyes at the urgency in her voice and went to open the window, standing apart when six black clad people jumped in in perfect silence.

“Excuse us for the secrecy,” Jace muttered standing up, directly looking at the Consul, “but we couldn’t risk an official permission to leak out.”

“So you decided to sneak in Idris and make the werewolves representative summon me and the Inquisitor for a “matter of the utmost importance”? I believe that’s what your fire message said, Clarissa.” Jia crossed her arms on her chest, taking in them all. “This is quite an impressive company.” She noted, her eyes stopping in outrage on Kaelie’s face. “And what critical matter made you think you could bring two Downworlders to Alicante? I could—with a big effort—pretend not to see the High Warlock of Brooklyn, but you brought a fairy with you!”

“Please, we can explain.” Clary said with a sigh.

“Then do it, and fast.” Maryse said. “I was here for dinner when your message came and Jocelyn thought it would be best if I stayed: when you’re concerned, Clarissa, my kids are not that far.”

“And I would like to know what’s happening before dragging that outlaw up to the Guard.” Robert said, stepping forward.

Kaelie froze but Jace calmly walked in front of her. “You won’t do anything like that. Just listen and you’ll see why we had to do this. It’s serious... dad.”

Robert glanced at Jace with surprise; this was maybe the third or fourth time he ever called him that in his whole life, the last time he remembered was at his wedding with Clary. He just never did it, he usually called him by his name.

“Just tell me you’re alright Clary. Has something happened?” Jocelyn asked, definitely worried.

“I’m fine.” Clary nodded, trying to smile at her mother. “I’ll be better when this whole story is out in the open though. We need your help. We need the Clave’s help.”

“Why don’t you all sit down then? We have enough chairs and couches for all of us.” Jocelyn took her daughter’s hand and gently pulled her towards the table. “I know you wouldn’t break the Law without a reason, but I hope it is a good one, dear.”

“It is.” Clary nodded, taking a big breath. Then she turned to the Consul. “Jia, I know we’re not supposed to talk about Council meetings, but do you remember all the reports about the vampires?”

She narrowed her eyes and nodded. Clary was feeling like a child, they were all sat down while the “adults” were on their feet looking at them, like a firing squad.

“We found out what’s happening and it’s not a feud. It’s war, Jia. The vampires allied with the fairies and they are about to attack us.”

The Consul paled, her arms falling to her sides. “What are you saying?”

“I will explain, if you let me.” Kaelie took a step forward under the suspicious eyes of the Shadowhunters. “It was me who uncovered the plan and I immediately went to Jace when I found out.”

“And what would you have to do with my son?” Maryse asked, her lips tight. It was obvious that she knew nothing about the involvement of Jace and the pixie.

“It’s more what I have to do with—” Kaelie sighed, closing her eyes. “_His_ son. William Herondale. He’s alive. He’s in the Court.”

Dead silence met those words and Jace took a step forward, joining her side. “He wasn’t sick, six months ago. He was poisoned. The Seelie Queen did this and then she took him from us because the only antidote was a plant growing in the Fairy Kingdom.”

Jocelyn’s eyes widened and the blood left her face. “Why would she do something like that?”

“For revenge.” Magnus stepped up, placing himself in front of the Consul. “I warned you years ago, when you made the Fey sign that peace treaty. I told you hate would be the end result and here we are: the Seelie Queen abducted Will to make Jace and Clary suffer because they killed Sebastian and then she blackmailed them into keeping quiet threatening William’s life. Now she allied with the vampires and she’s ready to wage war against the Nephilim. All because you saw fit to crush them under your thumb rather than show some mercy.”

“Magnus—” Alec quietly called, reaching his boyfriend. “Enough. Please.”

The warlock made a disgusted sound but nodded and Kaelie resumed talking in the general silence. It wasn’t easy for her because she had to forge a decent lie, something the Nephilim would believe without questioning, something to condemn her race and save theirs. So, talking about William’s kidnapping was instrumental to make them believe Jace and Clary had been just the victims of a cruel revenge, that they had no notion about the impending war. Talking about the alliance with the vampires would be necessary to make them think more about the war and less about the unsanctioned expedition to the Unseelie Court, although when Alec talked about that, he earned a very stern and furious stare from both his parents. In the end convincing the Consul and the Inquisitor wasn’t that hard, since neither of them really wanted to believe that two of their most famous war heroes would ever be capable of betraying them.

“So we have a war ready to start,” the Consul said, pacing around. Her eyes were narrowed, her fingers stroking her chin. “But why would the vampires help? What did the Queen offer them?”

“She offered us.” Jace replied, his shoulders stiff. Kaelie looked at him with surprise, she had had no intention of revealing that part of the plan. “They found out the reason Simon was turned into a Daylighter when he was a vampire. The Queen offered them me and Clary because our blood has the power to turn them as well.”

“Wh—” Jocelyn looked at her daughter, her face paling again.

“It’s the angel’s blood Valentine poured into us.” Jace continued. “And yes, I know I never reported about Simon drinking my blood, but he was dying and I wouldn’t let him. I would have kept the secret if it wasn’t for this current crisis, I didn’t want to risk the vampires to find out. Except that now they did.”

Robert looked ready to kill somebody as he walked to Jace, putting a hand on his shoulder. “This was a dangerous secret to keep. A stupid one. You were always reckless, but how could you—” He stopped talking with an effort, shaking his head but Simon knew what he was about to say: how could he let a Downworlder touch him? Bite him? How could he volunteer to keep one of _them_ alive?

It was hopeless, he grimly thought. The rift between the Shadowhunters and the Downworlders was too far gone to be ever fixed... the Nephilim would never consider anybody equal to them. He saw Jace was about to reply but he shook his head, making sure Jace saw him.

“Let it go. It’s not important now.” Simon quietly said, looking straight at the Inquisitor. “Besides, I’m a Shadowhunter now, aren’t I? Isn’t this what matters? That I’m not a filthy Downworlder anymore, that your daughter is marrying a child of Raziel instead of one of the Night? What a terrible shame if I was still a vampire. Don’t you see? Can’t you tell? This is the reason the vampires allied with the fairies: how long can you go while you’re considered an inferior being? How long can you stand living in fear because the race that’s supposed to protect you, goes around crushing an already won enemy just to prove a point? Do you know that we’re living in something that’s called the Cold Peace now? The Shadow World is scared of the Nephilim. They are scared of what we’ll do if they even breathe wrong, but fear doesn’t last forever, Inquisitor. Sooner or later it’s replaced by rage, and this is where we stand now. Seven years ago you showed the Shadow World you’re unable to forgive, and this is the result: the Shadow World is trying to decide whether or not they need the Shadowhunters to live on... and apparently the vampires decided they don’t. Congratulations.”

“You’re walking a dangerous path, Simon Lovelace.” Jia quietly said, narrowing her eyes. “Are you sure you want to insult the Clave’s decisions?”

“I’m not insulting anybody, just saying things as they are. You crushed the fairies and you know it. You _wanted_ to. You wanted to set an example but now it backfired. Or are you going to deny it?”

“Jia, this isn’t going anywhere.” Clary walked over and stood by her _parabatai_. “We need to deal with what’s happening: the Fair Folk has my son and we’ll have a war soon if we don’t do anything to stop it. The vampires attacked the werewolves to thin out our allies and you know the warlocks won’t interfere in the conflict. It doesn’t look good. We need to attack before they do. If we cut this before it starts, the vampires will retreat, they won’t risk fighting alone. They’ll pretend they never had a deal with the fairies. But we need to do something now, before this whole thing escalates more.”

“You.” Jia turned to Kaelie after a long moment of silence. “Why would you come to warn us? I remember who you are, you’re the fairy who represented the Seelie Court when the Dark War ended. What do you hope to gain from this?”

The pixie stared her out trying to look calm. “Just justice for my people. The Seelie Queen is leading the fairies in a place they don’t deserve to be. This new fight is just because she wants revenge for Sebastian Morgenstern, she’s not thinking about the Fey’s well being. She’s going to destroy us, even more than we were at the end of the Dark War and my people doesn’t even know about this! She armed our soldiers again, she had our youngs trained but all she said was she couldn’t allow the Clave to deny us our right to defend ourselves, especially against the Unseelie fairies. I doubt anybody knows she’ll soon give the order to attack the Nephilim, she kept it a secret because she wouldn’t risk anything to leak out. It will be a slaughter and I can’t allow it!”

“And you think you can avoid it by coming here and warning us?” Robert was incredulous. “You think we’ll just send a messenger to the Queen, demanding William back and telling her to back off? She went this far, she won’t take the diplomatic course. You know we will attack, pixie. And you know your people will die.”

“Killing them is not necessary!” Kaelie yelled, clenching her fists. “As I told you most of the soldiers are young, fairies that were children when the Dark War happened. They aren’t experienced. If you have a big number of Nephilim invade the Court, you’ll be able to disarm them without killing anyone. Meanwhile I’ll guide Jace and the rest to where the Queen is: once she’s captured, the army will surrender. There won’t be a need for a bloodbath. Unless—” her gaze turned icy. “Unless you want one.”

Another silence followed, then the fairy sighed and looked at Jia, pleading with her blue eyes. She didn’t want to beg but her pride wouldn’t help now. “Consul, I know you don’t trust me, and after what the Queen did to William, you have even more reasons to despise me. But I love my people and I want what’s best for them: this war and this Queen aren’t what we need, nor what we deserve. I just ask that you show that mercy you couldn’t show us seven years ago. Avoid this war, reconsider the treaty. Allow the Fairies to rebuild, to gain your trust again, under a new ruler, someone who’ll take our best interest at heart.”

“And who would this new ruler be? You?”

Kaelie widened her eyes, sincerely stunned. “Me? What—no! I’m just a court lady, I’m a waitress! Do you think I’m doing this because I want to be Queen? I don’t—I would never—no!”

“Why don’t we worry about this after we deal with this crisis?” Isabelle interrupted them all, impatiently stepping up. “We’re losing time and we don’t have any. If the Queen notices both Jace and Clary disappeared, she’ll hide William and she’ll attack. I don’t give a damn about this war, or about who will be the next Seelie Queen, this is Clave’s business. I just want my nephew safe home again.”

She turned to her parents who were standing stiff and cold and her eyes softened. “It’s your grandchild we’re talking about, and he’s been prisoner for six months. It’s time to get him back, don’t you think?”

“Of course. Of course it is.” Jocelyn softly replied, taking Luke’s hand. “I still can’t believe it.”

“I’ll go up to the Gard,” Jia said, shaking her head. “I’ll call for an emergency meeting of the Council right now even though nobody will be too happy about having to meet in the middle of the night. Clarissa, you can explain this whole mess and we’ll manage to devise a plan to stop this madness before it starts.”

Clary nodded but when Jia was about to leave, Robert told her he would stay some more minutes to talk to his children. As soon as the Consul was gone, as soon as he was positive she couldn’t hear them anymore, he sighed and turned to them.

“Now. The truth please.”

In the stunned silence, Maryse walked up near him and nodded. “He’s right. There’s something you’re not telling and even though you fooled the Consul you can’t fool us. We know you too well.”

They watched as Isabelle, Alec and Jace just stood there, their faces as straight as possible, then Robert paled. “This bad? Is this so dangerous that you can’t talk about it? I’m not asking as the Inquisitor, I’m asking as your father. We just want to help. Tell us what’s wrong.”

“Clary, Simon, please.” Luke added, looking at them. “He’s right. And once the Consul has time to think about it, she’ll realise there’s more to the story than you told us. The Seelie Queen had William for six months, she had you under her thumb. Are you really trying to make us believe she was just happy to watch you suffer? Not a fairy, and certainly not her.”

He shot Kaelie an apologetic glance but she looked away like the rest of them.

“Tell us, please.” Jocelyn whispered. “Tell us, so we can help when Jia wants to know more. If you don’t let us in, she’ll question you all with the Mortal Sword and whatever you’re hiding will come to the surface. Please, Clary, talk to us. Please baby.”

More silence. It was so deep that it almost shouted with a voice of its own as the tension in the room grew to its breaking point.

Then, in the middle of it, Isabelle took a step forward, her lips in a tight line. She walked to he father, took his hand and gently, slowly, rubbed it with her fingers, like a slow caress, something Robert never remembered her doing, not with him anyway.

“Dad, do you remember when you brought me to the Academy, some years ago? When you talked to the students about the Circle?” He waited for his nod then went ahead. “We talked later, at the end of our visit and you told me something I never forgot: you told me that you loved your children unconditionally, that we were the one thing you would always be certain of. And then you told me that you were ready to spend the rest of your life to prove it to us, and to prove that we could also be certain of you.”

“Isabelle—”

“This is your chance. This is it. I’m willing to give you my trust, to trust that I can talk to my father without talking to the Inquisitor as well. Please, tell me you won’t betray my faith in you. Please.”

Robert looked at her hand, still slowly rubbing his, then at Maryse who was still at his side, so similar to her daughter, so fierce and strong. Luke and Jocelyn were silent and he knew they already pledged in their heart they would never betray their loved ones. It was up to him and for once in his life he had to decide by himself, taking the chance to screw up with the people he loved most: his children.

“I promise.” He told his daughter, looking straight in her eyes, so she could see he was not faltering. “I’m on your side, Isabelle. Be certain of me, my daughter.”

And when finally he knew all the truth, when his children told him everything, when Jocelyn was silently crying on Luke’s shoulder because of what had been done to Clary, he gently took Isabelle in his arms, caressing her long hair and smiling with gratitude.

“Thank you baby.” He whispered while holding her. “I won’t let you down. Ever.”


	18. When plans go wrong

It was almost midday when Kaelie went back home and she was exhausted. The night had been spent plotting, and Jia even called her up to the Council to repeat everything she said in front of several Shadowhunters who clearly couldn’t wait to throw her in the Silent City jails and leave her there forever. She still wondered if she picked the right side in this fight because it was as clear as the sun that the Nephilim had no desire of ever rethinking their decisions about the fairies; this war was the final nail in the Fey’s coffin. And yet between obliteration and punishment, she would pick punishment every day.

She yawned looking for the keys in her purse and picked up her phone as it started ringing.

“Yes, Jace, I’m home.” Finding the keys of her apartment she tilted her head so the phone would be stuck between her ear and her shoulder and opened her door. “I’m fine, I just need to sleep.”

The house was dark because the shutters were closed but she didn’t mind: she couldn’t wait to reach her bed. “No, you know why I couldn’t stay. After tonight the last thing I want right now is to be around more Nephilim. No offence, but your Consul and Inquisitor aren’t the nicest people I ever met.”

She laughed at his reply. “No, I don’t want to imagine someone worse. Tonight was challenging enough.”

She sighed then, putting her purse on the table in the entrance. “Jace, I’m _home_. What could possibly happen? I just want to get a good day of sleep before—well, you know. Get some rest as well. Yes, alright. See you later.”

She hung up, shaking her head. Soon it would all be over, they couldn’t afford to wait much more to attack before Jiliel started suspecting something was off. She knew she should have stayed at the Institute to rest but she also knew she wouldn’t be able to, not surrounded by Shadowhunters: all she wanted was some time for herself to relax her mind and her body, to close her eyes and just _not think_.

This was it and everything would change. People would probably die, fey knights, fey soldiers—and her brother and her Queen. She balled her fists on the table and shut her eyes tight, trying not to cry; it was too late for that. She vowed to herself that she would do her best to save Jiliel, but she honestly knew she had no chances, not against Clary and Jace and their anger. They would shove her aside like she was a little doll and go for the kill without even blinking.

“Oh brother,” she whispered in the dark, “why did you have to be so cruel to her?”

Kaelie sighed, walking into the living room and froze on the spot. The room was dark, but she would have recognised that silhouette everywhere. As Jiliel stood up from her couch without saying a word, Kaelie instinctively took a step back.

“What are you doing here?”

He didn’t answer but with two quick steps he was in front of her, taking her phone from her hands and throwing it behind him. Then he grabbed her wrist and dragged her in the kitchen, shoving her in one of the chairs. As soon as she was down, she felt one of his hands on her shoulder, keeping her seated while the other went straight for her throat.

“So, sister.” He whispered in the dark, squeezing his fingers. “How come you met the Nephilim Consul? And the Inquisitor?”

_Think, think, think, think!!!_

“They came at the Institute last night.” Kaelie choked out, grabbing her brother’s hand on her throat.

“Oh?” He grinned even though she couldn’t see him. But it was clear in his voice. “A social call? How nice of them.”

“You’re hurting me—let me go, please.” She was trying hard to breathe but she was starting to see coloured dots before her eyes.

“What have you done, Kaelie?” Jiliel asked, still choking her. She couldn’t talk, she couldn’t breathe anymore. She shook her head, panicking, desperately trying to get up from that damn chair but her brother shoved her off on the hard, cold, floor, suddenly letting her go. She stayed there, coughing and breathing, tears streaming down her cheeks while Jiliel turned on the light and came back, kneeling in front of her.

“I didn’t do anything, I swear.” Kaelie tried, a hand on her aching throat. “I don’t know why they were there. They talked with the Lightwoods and then they were gone!”

She was suddenly on her stomach, her head slamming down the floor and her brother pinning her arms behind her back. She cried out in pain.

“I don’t believe you.” He told her, his voice calm like he was talking about the weather. “You know why? Because I’m not stupid, dear sister.”

He adjusted himself on Kaelie’s back, keeping her down. “So let’s see, when did this start? It was when you took them to see the brat some days ago? You took pity of them? Or were you planning this since the beginning?”

“I didn’t do anything!” She shouted, still trying to deny it but she cried out when Jiliel squeezed her wrists, almost breaking them.

“Yes, you _did_. I knew you would be a liability, too much history with Herondale. I told the Queen about that but she didn’t listen because she remembered how full of hatred you were at the _peace_ conference. She thought you’d be perfect, that you would jump at the idea of revenge.”

“Jiliel—”

“But you know what?” He hissed behind her. “I tried to trust you. I tried to believe you really were screwing Herondale, that you wanted to torture him as much as I was doing with Clary. Because you’re a fairy and they are Shadowhunters. I guess I was wrong.”

“Let me go, damn you!”

“You’re an awful liar, Kaelie.” Jiliel said, planting a knee in the centre of her back, making her gasp. “When you told me that you were going to stay in the Institute yesterday night, I suspected something was wrong. First of all, you would have asked me if Clary could stay there, because you know I’m in charge of her. And second, you aren’t the kiss and tell type; if Clary was there, you would have taken Jace away. Rookie mistake sister, when you try to deceive someone you don’t deviate from your normal routine.”

“I just wanted to—” She didn’t get to finish that sentence because Jiliel took her left thumb and sharply pulled at it until she felt blinding pain and started screaming. He just broke her finger.

“You’ll shut up until I ask you a question, do you get me Kaelie? Do you?” He shouted, pinning her down again and she could just nod, crying and sobbing, scared to death. “What did you tell them, sister? Do they know we’re going to attack? Answer me.”

“I didn’t tell them anything.” She said, pain blinding her sight. “I haven’t even talked to them!”

Another sharp pull and her forefinger snapped, making her owl. “Wrong answer. And if you keep this up I’ll run out of fingers pretty soon. Then it’s your toes, Kaelie. Then your arms. Then your legs. And then I’ll start over with your fingers, but this time I’ll use a knife and I’ll cut them off. Spare yourself the pain.”

“Kill me already if you think I’m a traitor!” She managed to shout between her sobs. It hurt so bad she couldn’t help to cry.

“I don’t _think_ you’re a traitor, sister. I _know_ you’re one.” Jiliel was calm again, taking her middle finger, ready to break that one as well. “I tried calling Clary yesterday night, you know, to say goodnight. In my own way of course. But her phone was off and Clary knows better than cutting me off on purpose, I made very clear several times that I must always be able to reach her. Then I tried calling you, so you could tell that bitch to turn her phone on, but, surprise, your phone was off too. So you know what I did? I went to the Institute. I was ready to play the part of this jealous boyfriend who doesn’t want his girl in the same building of her ex-husband, but nobody came to open the door when I rang. So, you see, the Consul wasn’t there. _You_ were with the Consul. You were in Alicante, that’s why the phones weren’t working right? No technology in the precious City of Glass.”

Kaelie didn’t reply, feeling her heart missing a beat. Jiliel knew. He knew she lied and he was perfectly capable to connect the dots. It was over, she was about to die like the traitor she was. She cried again when her brother broke her middle finger but she was too weak to try to fight anymore.

“You know, I’m surprised, I never thought Clary would choose the Nephilim over the safety of her son. She must know he will die if they try to rescue him, he won’t have access to the antidote anymore. Or are they hoping to keep him alive by magic?”

Again she didn’t say anything, unsure whether he was telling the truth or whether he was trying to understand how much they knew about the Kohl poison. Maybe he really had no idea it didn’t work on a child, but she wasn’t going to disclose it to him if he didn’t know already.

“What did you tell them?” Jiliel asked when it was clear Kaelie wasn’t going to reply. “Did you tell them about the plan? The vampires? How far did you go?”

“I won’t tell you anything.” She whispered, tears still flowing. “Just kill me already because I’m not going to say another word.”

“Oh yes, you will sister.” He grinned behind her, grabbing her head and lifting it up making her back arch. “You will tell me everything I want to know, even things you think you forgot. You won’t stop talking until I tell you to. And then you will die.”

Blinding pain exploded in her head when he smashed her on the floor again. Kaelie closed her eyes and let herself be lost in the darkness.

***

“So.” Jace said, aiming his knife and throwing it with lethal precision across the training room. “You’re marrying my sister, uh?”

They were all there, Izzy and Clary sparring with each other, Alec working on his bow, Magnus sitting down with his eyes closed. It had been a long night, but nobody was relaxed enough to sleep, so they were trying to work off some steam.

Simon shrugged beside Jace, taking a knife of his own. “If this is some elaborate method for scaring me off, save it. Alec already did that when he learnt about the wedding.”

“Oh?” Jace’s golden eyes turned to his future brother-in-law. “Damn it, he beat me at the older brother stuff, then. What did he threaten you with?”

“He said if I don’t make Izzy deliriously happy, he will have Magnus turn me into a rat again and then he’ll feed me to Chairman Meow.”

“Well, that is pretty creative.” Jace smirked throwing another knife. “I suppose I can just jump in and say that before Magnus turns you I’ll make you bathe in tuna, so his cat will find you more inviting.”

“That’s gross.” Simon shuddered and made a disgusted noise.

“Seriously though, I suppose I should thank you for wanting to take care of my sister?” Jace’s eyes were smiling. “Or should I buy you a tombstone already? Izzy can be a bitch when she wants. Didn’t I tell you many years ago that she would walk all over you?”

“I heard that!” Isabelle called, parrying Clary’s blow. She was concentrated on her fight but her eyes drifted on her brother just for a second.

“And that’s my _parabatai_ you’re threatening!” Clary laughed. “Shall I come defend his honour?”

“As if you could beat me, _little girl_.” Jace challenged her with a small smile on his lips.

“Oh, you’re so on, Herondale.” The red head twirled her sword and marched to her husband while everybody stopped training and just looked at them in silence. Watching Jace and Clary sparring was a joy for the eyes. She may have been inexperienced when they met but several years under his careful training and she was a war machine, as lethal as he was. Whether he used his superior strength against her, she could dance around him indefinitely because she was faster and smaller. And truly, their fights were a dance, an elegant, gracious dance that everybody had been denied to watch for too long. When was the last time the married couple was able to be that close, to let everything go? Because even though they were now trading blows, even now that they were sweating, trying to best each other, even now everybody could see the indissoluble bond of love that tied them to each other.

_This is the reason_, Simon thought, watching his best friend fighting on the blue mat. _Because if they let themselves be that close even once, we would have known how much they still loved each other. And we would have wondered why they were apart. But it will be over soon. This is something I will be able to watch for a long, long time after we get Will back._

A blink of an eye later, Jace was on his back on the floor, his long legs stretched, his weapon on the ground. Clary was straddling him, sitting on his stomach, her sword at his throat while her emerald eyes were fixed in his golden ones. Slowly, oh so slowly, Jace bent his legs until they were touching her back and his hands raised to rest on her hips just as Clary dropped the sword from fingers that were trembling now. His eyes never left hers as his hands lightly caressed her thighs, up and down, rising back up to her hips, then to her waist, then to her arms. His touch was light as a feather as if he was learning again every curve of her body and maybe he was.

_Trust me,_ he was silently begging her. _Let me show you that I’ll never hurt you. Let me help you heal._

He was vaguely aware that his family wasn’t ever daring to breathe, that the typical “get a room” would never arrive. They knew what he was doing, he realised, they knew this wasn’t about sex at all; this was about him adoring her and wanting her to learn again that she was a human being, not an object. This was about her knowing that every time she said no, he would stop. It was about her getting back her confidence, her strength, her will.

She wasn’t moving, frozen on top of him, trembling under his fingers. She kept her eyes on him trying to breathe, trying not to move away from his touch, trying to tell herself that she was safe and that this was Jace and he loved her. She wanted to caress him too, she wanted to run her fingers on his chest, she wanted to trace his features, his neck, his shoulders—but as much as she willed her hands to move, they were on her sides, shaking and unable to move even an inch. She opened her mouth to try to explain, to mutter an apology, anything, but no words escaped her lips, nothing but a strangled whimper that made Jace bite his lips and stop touching her, his arms resting now on his sides. Clary followed his gaze again, expecting to see the pain of rejection, pity or even anger.

“It’s okay.” She heard him whisper, his eyes conveying such love and understanding that she felt her own filling with tears. “It’s okay. You say no, I’ll stop. Every time. Till the end of our days, if that’s what you need. I love you, Clary. You’ll never have to apologise to me, to feel guilty. I love you. In this life and beyond that. Always and forever.”

Her heart started beating so fast in her chest that its roar echoed all the way to her ears, almost deafening her but before she could say anything the spell was broken by the sound of a phone. With a silent curse Alec answered and Clary stood up, suddenly embarrassed by their public display, turning to the blue eyed Shadowhunter who was quietly talking in a corner.

“It was mom,” he said when he hung up. “Word has been sent to all Nephilim to gather in Idris, ready to attack. The Council declared that they don’t have time for a Clave meeting, if Kaelie is right and the vampires are in with the Fey. They agree with us that a pre-emptive attack is the best course of action, a hard blow before the war explodes in our faces. And since they know Clary and Jace’s disappearance would raise suspicions, they aren’t delaying the attack. It’s scheduled by tomorrow, at dawn. Mom required that Kaelie stays with us at the Institute until then.”

Simon snorted. “I don’t like the fairies, but Kaelie helped us and we’re at this point because of her. And yet they still don’t trust her.”

“I can’t blame them.” Clary said, shrugging. “And besides if she stays here she’ll be more protected. I never agreed with her going home today.”

“She was tired.” Jace replied, taking out his phone. “And frankly after being questioned all night, I see her point. I think Nephilim aren’t her favourite people right now.”

He dialled her and waited, raising his eyebrow when she didn’t pick up. “That’s weird.” He muttered.

“Maybe she’s sleeping?” Alec suggested.

“Maybe.” Jace conceded. “But in times like this, you would think she kept her phone near every time.”

He tried again, letting the phone ring longer this time, then he shut it off definitely annoyed. “I guess I’ll have to go to her place.”

“I can Portal you, if you prefer.” Magnus said. “This way nobody will see you or her and everybody will just assume she’s still at home the whole time.”

“Do you think somebody is watching her?”

“No reason to.” Magnus shook his head. “But she just came home from the Institute and it doesn’t make sense that you go and take her here again, right?”

“You have a point, oh almighty warlock.” Jace quipped, with a smile. “Shall we, then?”

It didn’t take long for Magnus to set up the Portal, but it was Jace who crossed it first, followed by the warlock.

The apartment was dark, the windows closed, no lights on. The Shadowhunter whispered to Magnus to stay in the living room while he silently walked to the bedroom. He opened the door slowly, not wanting to startle Kaelie but when he saw the bed was empty, he stopped.

“Jace, come back here.” Magnus called and something in his voice told him to hurry. He bolted to the living room and followed Magnus pointed finger, finding Kaelie’s phone behind the couch, on the ground. It was still on and he could see his two missed calls on the log.

“She’s not here.” He said, his heart picking up his rate. What had happened? Without a word the two men started looking around, finding no evidence of struggling, no broken glasses, no moved furniture—but as soon as they crossed the kitchen threshold, they stopped.

“Damn it...” They knelt on the floor by several blood stains, then Jace punched the floor in rage, standing up soon after.

“She’s been taken.” Magnus grimly said, lightly touching the blood. His eyes flashed bright yellow before he closed them, murmuring something and circling his finger on the stain. “It’s recent. No more than two hours ago. And it was a fairy who did this, I can sense it all over the place.”

“Jiliel found out.” Jace replied, through gritted teeth. “It’s the only explanation. He saw through her attempt of deceiving him yesterday night and he took her to find out what’s going on.”

“And this explain why he didn’t try to wipe the blood out.” Magnus agreed. “Because he knew I would come here and sense what happened anyway. But I bet he wasn’t expecting us finding out so soon.”

He stood up, looking at the blond Shadowhunter. “Let’s go back to the Institute. We need to make plans; this changes everything.”

Jace nodded, passing a hand through his hair. “I failed her. I swore to protect her and look how well I did it. That sadist got her and right now he’s probably torturing her to find out everything she did to help us.”

Magnus sighed and looked back at the bloodstains. “We have to assume she’ll tell him. The poison, the Princess, what happened last night—they will know. Kaelie wasn’t trained as a warrior, there’s probably just so much that she can endure.”

Jace had to stop himself from punching a wall with his bare fist. “You’re right. And this just adds up on how much I’ll make Jiliel suffer before I kill him. Kaelie is a good girl, Magnus, she never—”

“I know.” The warlock put his hand on Jace’s shoulder. “We need to tell Robert right now, because you can bet that as soon as the sun sets, the fairies and the vampires will attack Alicante.”

“That’s Clave’s business.” Jace snapped, his golden eyes glowing in fury. “Now we need to worry about William. If Kaelie breaks down, they’ll know about us. We need to go get Will now, before they have the time to hide him and we need to get the Queen before she flees, or we’ll have the Unseelie Fairies on our back as well.”

The warlock slowly turned to Jace. “Attacking now.”

Jace nodded.

“Just us. With no backup.”

“All the backup we can get in thirty minutes.”

“That’s suicide, you know.”

“It’s now or never, Magnus. You know that as well as I do.”

He did. Kaelie was taken. The Queen would know they were planning to attack and she would relocate William so that he could keep healing her daughter. Maybe they were moving him right now. But they wouldn’t expect a small number of Shadowhunters to try and risk everything on a rescue mission, they would expect it took some time to gather the numbers for attacking.

And they had Clary. Clary and her Portals that could take them directly inside the Seelie Court.

“Let’s go. Let’s do this.”

The two men crossed the Portal back to the Institute while Jace was still clenching Kaelie’s phone. He would get her back safe, he swore again. Or he would avenge her.


	19. The Seelie Court

“I never expected you would be able to make Jia agree.” Jocelyn said while painting the Alliance rune on Luke.

“It’s my nephew we’re talking about,” Maryse replied, checking her equipment. “Robert needs to stay behind with Jia to coordinate the rest of the Shadowhunters, but I pointed out to our beloved Consul that with or without her consent we would come anyway. And it’s just two Nephilim and a werewolf, they can do without us.”

The training room at the New York Institute was a blur of activity while the Shadowhunters were getting ready, arming themselves to the teeth. Jace’s call for help to Idris had been answered surprisingly quick, allowing Jocelyn, Maryse and Luke to come immediately while the rest of the Nephilim were getting ready as fast as they could to come as backup.

“Alright people, the plan is easy.” Jace called from the door making everyone turn to him. “Clary can portal us directly into the Seelie Court, in the room where Will was kept. They won’t expect it, especially not so soon. Then we open our path through everything they will throw at us, we rescue Will and Kaelie and we get the hell out of there. If the Shadowhunters in Idris show up, that’s great, but they’ll have to access the Fairy Kingdom by one of the entrances we know, so it will take time before they reach us. Our main concerns are Will and Kaelie. Everything else can and will wait.”

“Piece of cake.” Luke muttered, shoving a knife in his belt. “Not like there is the entire Seelie Court waiting for us...”

“Scared?” Jocelyn smiled at her husband, the flame of her hair matching the one in her eyes. She was definitely ready to kick some ass.

“With you by my side? Never.” Luke laughed, leaning in for a quick kiss. “It’s just been quite some time since our last fight together. And this will be a huge one.”

“Let’s just hope the backup will be quick. We will really have the whole Seelie Court on our back.” Jocelyn commented, shaking her head.

Some steps away, Clary was checking her weapons and packing a couple of extra steles when Jace caught her by the elbow and lead her away from the others.

“Listen to me,” he quietly said. “If we’re lucky enough and Will is in the room when we cross the Portal, I want you to grab him and portal to Alicante straight away.”

Clary stiffened and opened her mouth to argue but Jace cut her short. “We obviously can’t bring him with us and he will need you. He hasn’t seen you in months, we can’t just let my mother or yours bring him to safety while we stay behind. One of us has to go with him.”

“And you decided that one should be me.” Clary said, cold ice in her voice.

Jace nodded, his jaw set. “Just think, ok? We need to save Kaelie as well, and we don’t know where she is. We don’t know if we’ll— damn it, Clary, I need to know Will is safe with you. I need to know that if we don’t make it, our son won’t grow up without his mother. You can protect him in ways that Jocelyn and Maryse can’t. And if we can’t stop this war from happening, if the fairies attack Alicante, I need to know you will be there to save our son.”

“But—”

He grabbed her shoulders and squeezed. “The vampires, Clary. They know about us, they know about William. If I don’t make it out of today alive—”

“Stop.” She broke his hold, her eyes screaming in denial. “We will. We both will. We’ll go home with William and we’ll be safe. You can’t go into the fight thinking we will fail.”

“I’m not!” He tried to keep his voice low. “But I need to plan the future, every type of future. And Will has a future only if you’re with him, only if you keep him safe.”

“What about today?” She asked. “If I leave, how will you get out when you find Kaelie? What if Magnus is injured and can’t open a Portal?”

“I’ll keep him safe. I’ll be glued by his side if needed. But Clary,” he raised a hand, slowly caressing her cheek. “Just promise me. Ease my mind. This isn’t about you being weak or not good enough to fight. This is about William and giving him his family back.”

She didn’t say anything for a minute, then she bit her lip. “I want to kill Jiliel. I _need_ to kill him.”

“He won’t survive today, I promise you. He will be there to protect the Queen and I’ll slaughter him.” Jace took her hand, slowly caressing her knuckles. “Your hands are my hands, do you remember?”

Yes, she did. And she remembered how much he wanted to kill Sebastian, how much he _needed_ to kill him for what he did, just like she did with Jiliel. And yet he had to step aside and let her do it.

She breathed deeply, squeezing the hand that was caressing her. Leaving him there would kill her, but he was right: her runes were an extra layer of protection and they needed to put their son before everything else, including themselves. William deserved it.

“I promise you.”

***

William wasn’t there. The circular, colourful room was empty and since his toys were still scattered around, it was likely that Will was taken away in a hurry.

“Damn it.” Clary spoke softly activating the tracking rune to look for Will. “He’s still here, I know it. How about Kaelie?”

She turned to Magnus who was using a hair ribbon to track the fairy through magic. The warlock nodded. “Still here as well. We’ll follow the signals and we’ll split up if they go into different directions.”

The group silently left the room, all weapons ready, all senses focused in catching the slightest sound. Clary knew she should be scared but all she could feel was excitement: finally, after all those months, she was doing something. She was acting, she wasn’t a victim anymore. She had hope again. And if she had to open her path through all the Seelie Court to reach her son, well, too bad for the fairies. She wasn’t going to be stopped by anything or anyone.

The first time they met a fairy, it was a young girl leaving what was probably her room. She had long, wavy hair and innocent brown eyes that widened in horror when she saw the black clad group. She opened her mouth to scream but Simon was already there, silencing her and pushing her through the door she came from. A strangled sound a moment later told them the girl had been dealt with and Simon’s quiet “She’ll sleep for a while,” had them breathing in relief.

The second fairy was a soldier, hastily going toward the throne room. Luke was on him in a heartbeat, keeping him from screaming or fighting back: he was a young fairy, probably barely twenty years old and when Luke dragged him in a open, empty room, the group stopped and went in as well.

“Where’s the captive pixie. Where’s the human child.” The werewolf growled in the fairy’s face, but the soldier kept his mouth shut until Luke pressed his knife on the boy’s throat. “You’re about to be the first casualty in this war. We’ll find them anyway, but if you tell us where they are, you can at least spare some lives.”

“As if you kept your word.” The fairy spat in Luke’s face. “Kill me if you must. Just like the Shadowhunters killed my father and my brothers in Alicante.”

“We all lost someone in the Dark War, kid. My sister died as well. Do you want your comrades to meet that fate too? We want Kaelie Whitewillow and William Herondale and if we have to set the whole Court on fire to get to them, we will.”

“The General is waiting for you. You’ll never leave the Seelie Court alive!”

At that, Luke turned the fairy on his stomach and proceeded to hit him in the head with the hilt of his dagger, leaving him unconscious. Then he stood up, meeting Jocelyn’s stare.

“What?” He grimaced. “I wasn’t about to kill a kid just because he’s been brainwashed to hate us. And he wouldn’t have told us anything. But we know this is a trap, gentlemen.” He turned to Jace. “How much would you bet that Kaelie is in the throne room with all the soldiers Jiliel could find on such short notice? A nice, beaten bait, waiting for us.”

Jace nodded, turning to Magnus. “We’ll go straight there because the Seelie Queen’s private rooms are past the throne room and I bet she’s in there with Will and her daughter. Tell me if your tracking spell sends you in a different direction. And be ready to throw up a shield as soon as we reach the throne room. I have a feeling we’ll be welcomed by a rain of arrows.”

Magnus nodded , his eyes glowing. “If this is a trap, we won’t find anybody else on our way to the throne room. Jiliel wouldn’t risk us to kill his soldiers one by one in the corridors, he’ll want them all together to outnumber us.”

“And that’s why we have to be prepared to a massive battle when we get there. It won’t be pretty.” Jace looked at the rest of the group but he didn’t see fear, only determination. They were ready.

“Piece of cake, Jacey.” Magnus smirked as they left the room. “Magnus the Magnificent is here, don’t forget that.”

“Will you two quit the small talk?” Isabelle snapped, uncharacteristically tense. “I’m trying to listen if we’re walking into an ambush or not.”

“Easy.” Maryse murmured, placing a hand on her daughter’s shoulder before turning to the group. “Ready to go?”

They resumed walking, as silent as a deadly predator, and Magnus’ prediction turned true when they failed to meet a single fairy on their path to the throne room, where both Kaelie’s and William’s signals were pointing. The Seelie Court’s lights dimmed while they advanced, to the point they needed their witchlights to see where they were going.

“Magnus,” Jace whispered when they reached the curtain that separated them from the throne room. “You’re our first line of defence. Be ready.”

The warlock’s answer was a blue, flickering light dancing on his palm and Jace breathed in deeply, looking at the Shadowhunters. When Alec, his bow ready in his hands, gave him a light nod, Jace turned and the group barged in the throne room as a one, coordinated unit, using the witchlights to explore the surroundings.

They saw her immediately but their training took over, preventing a single sound escaping anyone’s lips: Kaelie was locked in an iron cage, something Alec immediately recognised as the torture device used in the Unseelie Court. The fairy was laying on her side, her arms locked around herself, her eyes closed. Her clothes were torn, her body covered in dried blood and she was shacking and softly moaning as if she didn’t have the strength to scream anymore.

_A nice, beaten, bait,_ Jace reminded himself, trying to resist the urge to run and get Kaelie to safety. What had they done to her? It looked like she couldn’t even move anymore!

And then, before any of them could do anything, the trap sprang.

A sudden light blinded them, a light so intense they all had to close their eyes and turn their heads, momentarily disoriented.

“Magnus!” Alec shouted, but the warlock was already in motion, throwing up a shield that covered them just as the arrows started raining down on them. He couldn’t stop them all and a sudden cry of pain from Maryse and Jocelyn told them they were hit.

Hell broke loose as dozens of fairy warriors descended on them with a loud battle cry and drawing their swords.

“Clary, go free Kaelie, now!” Jace screamed parrying and dodging and putting himself between the warriors and his wife. It was like a dam blocking a storm, he was hitting anybody who dared to try and pass him. “Isabelle, Simon, with her!”

Clary didn’t waste a second and ran to the cage with her _parabatai_ right on her heels, protecting her side. As she knelt in front of it, she could hear Isabelle swinging her whip left and right, keeping everybody away from her. The lock of the cage was broken, something to ensure it wouldn’t be easy to open it, but Clary took her stele out and simply concentrated, letting her fingers fly on it and drawing a rune that spoke of freedom to her mind.

As soon as the cage opened, Clary carefully extracted Kaelie from it and froze in horror: the fairy had been tortured. Her hands and feet were broken, her back was torn and raw as she had been whipped but the most terrible wound was on her stomach: it was a knife wound, still bleeding and weakening the pixie. Clary exchanged a look with Kaelie and she saw it in her eyes: she knew she was dying.

“I’m so sorry…” Clary whispered holding the fairy, knowing there was nothing she could do for her: her healing runes would kill her and the moment Clary raised her face to call for Magnus, Kaelie shook her head. Her breathing was quick and shallow and pain was all over her face. As she tried to speak, Clary lowered to her to catch what she was whispering.

“Don’t waste time for me… the knife was poisoned.” She coughed some blood while Clary pressed her hand on the wound as hard as she could to slow down the bleeding. “I haven’t told him anything about the Princess… he doesn’t know you can find them down there.” There was no doubt who the “him” was and even knowing how wicked Jiliel was, the thought that he could have tortured so much his own sister chilled Clary’s blood. “The Queen is there with William, she’ll take him away. My brother is with her. You need to go.”

Clary paled, catching her breath. If the Queen managed to disappear with her daughter and William they would never find them again.

“Clary…” Kaelie lifted her broken hand and rested it on the Shadowhunter’s arm. “The Princess… save her. Please, I beg you…”

Clary’s expression turned to stone but she didn’t answer.

“I’m dying Clary…”A tear ran down Kaelie’s cheek. “Please, let me go knowing our heir is safe. Please, have mercy.”

Clary’s mind was screaming all sort of things, but just one of them made it to her voice and even then she could barely manage a strangled whisper. “She’s Sebastian’s daughter.”

And just for that she should be damned to hell and beyond. She had demon blood in her, she was evil to the core. She _had_ to be. How could Kaelie even think on letting that kind of evil free to go? Sebastian almost burned the world to the ground, surely his daughter would do no less. And this time they could not be lucky enough to stop her.

“She’s blood of your blood, she’s just a helpless child… just like William is. She didn’t choose to come to this world, she’s innocent…”

Innocent? Clary wanted to laugh. Nobody born from Sebastian could ever be innocent. And to think her mother was the bitch that stole her son from her… no, that infant was far from innocent. Evil was thick in her blood, it was part of her.

Kaelie coughed up more and closed her eyes, unwilling to see the rejection in Clary’s face. Her heart broke knowing that the little, innocent child she had known would be probably be left sleeping in her crystal until the end of time, never loved, never warm, alone in the dark. It was unbearable. Sensing the end was approaching, she tried to find some peace of mind, thinking about happy memories, looking in her heart for something to guide her into her final moments but all she could see was a pair of golden eyes set in a beautiful face. Meeting Jace changed her life and ultimately led her to her death but she couldn’t find in her heart regret for her actions. Not one.

“Tell Jace I’m sorry for everything.” Kaelie whispered. “I wish I could have done more…”

And then, as Clary held her, she drew one last breath before finally breaking free from her pain.

Unwanted tears filled Clary’s eyes as she slowly caressed the pixie’s blond hair. Then she set her gently on the floor and joined the battle beside Simon and Isabelle, screaming: “Jace! The Queen is escaping! We need to go now!”

The throne room was a mess, filled with bodies, the floor slick with blood. A quick glance told her that the Shadowhunters were still standing even though they were wounded and bleeding but the power of their runes, Magnus' magic and Luke's fierceness in his lycantrope form were keeping the enemies at bay, slowly turning the tides of the battle in their favour.

“Go!” Alec shouted, throwing back a soldier that was rushing at him. “We’ll manage here. Don’t let her get away!”

Jace turned around without a word, exchanging a glance with his _parabatai_. Then he nodded and ran to Clary, swinging his sword whenever a fairy came too close. When he saw Kaelie he stopped dead, fury and grief flashing in his golden eyes and his hands tightened in painful fists before he ran off even faster to the Queen’s chambers, murder clearly written in his face. Clary ran with him and together they opened a bloodied path while Simon and Isabelle made sure nobody could hit them from behind.

The Queen’s chambers were empty and silent but they didn’t stop to check if the documents that would condemn Clary were there: they would think about that later. Instead they rushed to the wall where Kaelie said the secret door was and Clary didn’t waste time trying to find the unlocking mechanism. She drew a rune over it and the door sprang open, clearing a path of descending stairs. Almost flying down the steps, their only light their glowing swords, they never faltered or risked to fall down, graceful as only a predator could be. And they were predators now, ruthless parents willing to do anything to get their child back. And God help whoever crossed their paths.


	20. An incandescent flame

“Are you sure they can’t find us here?” The Queen asked, nervously glancing at the stairs that led to her chambers. It was the first time Jiliel ever saw her composure cracking but he could understand her anxiety: there was a war upstairs and the Shadowhunters were out for blood, not capture. He gritted his teeth thinking that it was his sister’s fault: had she not betrayed them, their plan would have been executed and in a short time they would forever be free of the Nephilim. But she suddenly had to give in to her everlasting crush on Jace Herondale and side with them. He knew she was the wrong person for the job, he always knew that. He just wished the Queen listened to him when he warned her. And the way Kaelie spat at him when he brought her at the Court after capturing her? The little bitch told him she never agreed with their plans for Clary and her family, that he was a heartless bastard for what he did to her. She disowned him with a curse when he finally stabbed her with his knife. _She_ disowned _him_! Oh, but she paid for that. She paid for her betrayal with every broken bone in her body, with every lash of his whip. He just wished he had more time to torture her before having to set up some defence for the Shadowhunters who were surely coming soon to get her and the brat. They would never be able to save Kaelie though, he personally saw to it when he stabbed her. As for William… Jiliel looked at him, sitting on the ground with a shiny ball in his hands to keep him busy. No, they would never rescue him either: if the Queen didn’t manage to escape with him, he would snap his little neck with his own hands.

“Faster my Queen,” he dared to whisper, “we need to go.”

The Seelie Queen didn’t bother to reply even though usually she would have had his head for his words. She was busy weaving a complicate spell to release her daughter from her crystal prison, since there was no way they could move her while she was sleeping in it. It was a magic she only attempted once in her life and it required her full attention; her heart clenched at the thought that maybe William’s blood still hadn’t fully replaced her daughter’s one but there was no time for doubts now. If her child wasn’t cured, she would make her sleep again once they were safe in the depth of the Fairy Kingdom. The Shadowhunters wouldn't kill her like they killed her father, she would never allow it.

The magic was draining her, taking more energy than she recalled but she couldn’t stop now: she could feel the crystal weakening, becoming thinner, almost disappearing. But then she raised her head when she heard hurried steps running down the stairs that led to the secret chamber. Suddenly paling she interrupted her spell and took William in her arms while Jiliel placed himself in front of her, his sword drawn.

Jace and Clary burst into the room, ready to fight and the Seelie Queen stepped back at the murderous look in their eyes.

“William!” Clary screamed when she saw her son in the Queen’s arms. Will was quiet, his gaze fixed on the sleeping Princess but when he heard his name, he suddenly turned. Still in the firm grasp of the Seelie Queen, he extended his little arms toward his mother, trying to get down but not making a sound.

“Release my son, now!” Jace growled, moving toward her just as Jiliel prepared to fight the both of them. “Release him!”

“You want him, Herondale? Is it too cliche to say you’ll get him over my dead body?” The fairy taunted him not even bothering to ask how had they found that place. Kaelie had clearly been shrewder than he thought, managing to discover that the Princess was still alive. It irritated him that she hadn’t told him anything when he tortured her, though, it showed an iron will he didn’t think she had.

“Actually it’s the perfect thing to say.” Clary’s cold voice was the only advantage she gave him before launching herself to him.

It was hard to keep the necessary concentration when all she wanted was ditch her weapon and simply gauge his eyes out with her bare hands; but Jiliel was an experienced soldier, a General, and she couldn’t afford any distraction.

“You know, I think I won’t kill you Clary.” Jiliel smiled, exchanging some blows with their swords to gauge her strength. “I’ll let the vampires drink your blood and then I’ll keep you with me, naked and chained so you can be my pet whenever I feel like having you.”

“You’re disgusting.” She ground her teeth, feinting on the right to hit him on the left. She was rewarded with the first blood, right on his arm. “You’ll never touch me again, I swear.”

“Oh, I’ll touch you, I will.” Jiliel gave the blow back, hitting her on her thigh. “I’ll touch you and I’ll whip you and I’ll brand you. I’ll break you Clary and you’ll beg me to kill you, but I won’t. You’ll live chained on my bed, a slave for my pleasure and for the pleasure of all the people I’ll sell you to. How would you like to be a whore?”

He was trying to make her lose control and she knew it. How many times during her training Jace had done the same thing? And how many times she had paid for her rage? This was greater than her though: she had to stay calm for William and for Jace, she had to defeat Jiliel so the Queen would be left defenceless.

She stopped listening. She focused on his moves rather than his voice, trying to read his body the way Jace taught her to, anticipating his movements, slicing him over and over until he was bleeding from his arms and chest so much that the floor was slick. Jiliel was a good swordsman though, he wasn’t the General of the fairy army by name only: he hit back, punched her, threw her on the ground trying to use his superior strength to keep her pinned. But Clary was fast, lighter than a feather and as soon as she was down she scissored his legs to drag him down with her. She was bloody, wounded on her arm and bleeding from her legs but she didn’t waste time: ditching her sword and grabbing a knife, she rolled over him, straddling the fairy and elbowing him right in the face. Jiliel screamed, blinded by the blood and it was all it took. With a vicious, violent blow she stuck her knife in his chest watching as his eyes widened in shock and pain.

“This is for me,” she spit in his face, “and for Jace.”

Taking the knife out, she buried it again on his stomach, right where he had hit his sister. “And this is for Kaelie. Die, you bastard.”

***

As Clary and Jiliel fought, the Seelie Queen built a magic shield around her so that Jace couldn’t touch her and slowly stepped back.

“You know I’ll never let him get away.” She warned, clearing away from the fight. She could see that Jace wanted to help his wife but at the same time he wouldn’t let William out of his sight: he was afraid she would escape while they fought.

“Either you release him or I'll kill you.” He replied, raising his sword. “We know the poison was a lie. You have no claim over him. Kaelie told us about your daughter and I won’t let you experiment on my son to awaken her so she can destroy the world.”

“Destroy the world?” She laughed in disbelief. “You think that’s what I was after? My only goal was taking my revenge on you and her and healing my daughter. I would have certainly liked to kill all the Nephilim in the process, but the world can stay where it is.”

“How noble of you.” Jace gritted his teeth. “Now put William down. You know you’re not leaving the Court alive.”

“Maybe you should go and make sure your wife is the one who leaves here alive.” She laughed and Jace turned just in time to see Clary on the ground, scissoring Jiliel’s legs to throw him down as well. She was covered in blood, her arm wounded and bleeding from her thigh but Jiliel wasn’t better, slightly limping and heavily bleeding from a chest wound.

It was a few seconds matter and before Jace could run to help Clary, she was already on top of the fairy, her dagger deeply buried in his stomach. As the Queen saw the light leaving her General’s eyes, she stepped back in shock, tightly hugging William to her chest.

Clary rose up, her red hair plastered on her face, blood covering her. “My son.” She hissed. “Give me back my son or, by the Angel, I’ll kill you where you’re standing.”

Before the Queen could shake her head again, William started wiggling in her arms, trying to break free of her grip on him, to get to the floor. His golden eyes raised to the Queen’s face with a serious expression and with a sudden move he bit her arm, sinking his teeth deep until she let go of him, screaming.

And then William ran on his short legs, he run with a smile on his face right in the arms of his mother who was kneeling on the ground, her arms open for him. He jumped on her, his little arms closing on her neck, his face buried on her shoulder.

“Mommy.” He whispered and Clary closed her eyes embracing her son with a strangled sigh, her tears freely falling on her cheeks. Oh, this was heaven, having her little child back in her arms, knowing he never forgot her, knowing she would never leave him again.

“Don’t move,” Jace hissed, pointing his sword right at the Queen’s throat. Her eyes were filled with pain but she never allowed a single tear to show up.

“Clary,” he called again, wishing he could look at them, but not daring to take his eyes off the Queen. “Are you alright? Is he?”

“We’re fine.” Clary stood up with William in her arms, his hands still firmly locked on her neck. “William is unharmed and I’ll heal.”

“Leave.” He ordered her. “Get Will out of here.”

As much as she wanted to argue, she didn’t. She bit her lower lip remembering her promise to him and grabbed her stele, shifting Will on her left arm. As soon as she drew the Portal rune, she sensed something wrong, like a barrier; she couldn’t cross it and as she looked at the smirk in the Queen’s face, she knew why.

“You.” She growled, “You’re blocking William. Release him!”

“I’m surprised you forgot the rule, Clarissa.” Even with a sword at her throat, she wouldn’t lose that superior look in her eyes. “William lived here for months, he ate and drank our food. He can’t leave the Court.”

“You can make him. Allow him to leave!”

And the Seelie Queen laughed. “Never! You can kill me, but even that won’t release him. Only my will can, and I won’t do it! You want your son? Then be prepared to live here with him, because I’ll never allow William to leave!”

“Jace.” A calm voice called from behind and when Clary turned, Alec was there, his bow ready and pointing at the Queen. He had a dried blood streak on his temple but looked otherwise unharmed. “The throne room is safe now and we’re fine. Simon and Isabelle are looking for Clary’s reports to destroy them.”

He looked at Jiliel’s dead body and at William in his mother's arms and smiled. “I see good news here as well.”

“Alec,” his _parabatai_ replied, a steel glint in his eyes. “Keep your eyes on her and if she moves a muscle shoot her. Don’t kill her though, I need her alive for a few more minutes.”

With that, Jace lowered his sword and backed off a few steps, his eyes never leaving the Queen’s. “Release my son. Allow him to leave.”

When she didn’t reply, he closed his fist and turned around, facing the altar where the Princess slept. A deep resolve showed in his face when he approached it and raised again his sword, grabbing the hilt with both hands and suspending the blade above the sleeping child.

“Release him.” He ordered again. His voice was calm, his expression deadly. “Or I’ll kill your daughter.”

A second of silence followed those words. Clary clenched her jaw but didn’t say anything, just holding William in her arms, caressing his blond hair.

The Seelie Queen paled and took a step toward Jace but an arrow in front of her feet stopped her.

“You’d never do it.” She said, trying to keep the panic from her voice.

“Wouldn't I?” He taunted her, keeping his sword pointed over the crystal. “You kidnapped my son, tortured me and my wife, killed one of your subjects just because she tried to help us… and you used William to heal this monster. If you want her to live, you’ll let William go now.”

“A monster?” She cried in outrage. “My daughter is not a monster, she’s just a sick baby. And if I let William leave, she’ll die anyway. I won’t!”

“She has Sebastian’s blood in her. I won’t allow her to wake up to destroy the world.” Jace replied, lowering his sword to her. The point touched the crystal. “If you release William, I’ll let her keep sleeping and at least she’ll be alive.”

“Alive? You call this being alive?” She opened her arms, looking at the secret chamber. “I know you’ll kill me, Shadowhunter. Without her mother to care for her, my baby will be left here in the dark for all eternity. Or until someone shatters her crystal and kills her. No! Never!”

“Then watch her die now.” And with those words Jace lowered his sword some more, piercing the weakened protection until the blade reached the throat of the helpless child.

“No!” The Queen sobbed, suddenly falling on the ground, her eyes full of tears. “Don’t hurt my baby… don’t hurt her…”

Jace stopped, raising his gaze. “Release Will. Now.”

She covered her face with her hands but Clary immediately noticed when things changed. The barrier was gone.

“She did it.” She whispered, her heart leaping in relief. “Will is free.”

And then, the Seelie Queen raised her face again, looking at them with hatred. “You got what you wanted. You killed Sebastian, punished my people, destroyed my army, killed my General, condemned my daughter… but you won’t have my life as well. I’m the Seelie Queen and you won’t touch me!”

She started glowing so much that they were forced to cover their eyes but it was an inner glow which never expanded outside her person, like she was evoking everything she was and waving it into the light. It was a glorious moment as they saw the life force of the fairy burn brighter and brighter until it was a incandescent flame. And then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. The light snuffed out, the glowing gone… and the Queen fell on the floor, dead.

The sound of something shattering echoed in the secret room as the Shadowhunters watched in disbelief the corpse of the Seelie Queen and then another sound filled the room.

The cry of a wailing baby.

William turned in his mother’s arms and wiggled around to get down. Clary let him go, still shocked at what happened and William ran to the altar where Sebastian’s daughter was crying, awake and free of her crystal prison, her little arms and legs flailing around.

He raised on his feet and pointed at her with his little fingers.

“Sister!” He cried, trying to reach her. “Sister!”


	21. A little peace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Author's note:** I'm sorry but I have no idea on how to make baby-talk in English, if there are sounds little kids can't make. Bear with me! Next chapter is the last one! There will be no further epilogue, so that will be it.

The Seelie Queen was dead. Her body was on the floor of the secret chamber, still beautiful but without that unique sparkle that made her fearsome and powerful. She was gone.

And her daughter was alive and crying on the altar where she slept for so long, protected by the crystal magic her mother conjured to keep her safe.

Clary was the first to react, walking to William to raise him in her arms. The child was trying his best to reach the wailing baby and even though he let her mother pick him up, he kept up his efforts.

“Sister! Sister!” He kept calling, while Clary tried to keep him away from her. But there was no reasoning with William and no mistaking the desperate note in his voice. He didn’t want to leave her.

Clary looked helplessly at Jace who was more than stunned by his son’s behaviour.

“He truly believes she’s his sister,” he quietly said. “Do you believe they are bonded, despite what Magnus said?”

“I don’t know.” Clary was still bleeding from her wounds but her heart was hurting the most: what had been done to her son? Would it be safe to separate him from Sebastian’s daughter? They knew nothing about the fairy magic after all.

“Jace…” She started, but her husband nodded as if he knew what she was thinking.

“I know… believe me, I know. We can’t be sure it won’t damage William if we leave her here. Or if we kill her.”

And yet, as soon as the words left his lips, he locked eyes with Clary and knew something that both upset and calmed him: they wouldn’t kill the baby. They couldn’t. As much as they feared what she could become, as much as they had hated Sebastian and the Seelie Queen, this baby was helpless and neither of them was the kind of monster who would kill her in cold blood. There was still humanity in them, even after everything they went through. Or maybe _because _of everything they went through.

“I’ll take her.” Alec offered, his bow now secured on his back. “You and Clary get out of here.”

Jace nodded, grateful for his _parabatai _and slowly walked to his wife, sheathing his sword.

“William?” He called when he was right beside him. The toddler turned to him and in that moment it was like those horrible months never happened: William looked at him with his beautiful golden eyes and lifted his arms.

“Daddy!” He smiled, shifting to move into Jace’s embrace. With a sob, Jace held his son in his arms, tucking his hand in his blond hair, breathing in the scent that was unique to William, still not believing that the nightmare was over.

“My baby…” he whispered, trying not to weep. It was perfect. Just perfect. William hugged him as hard as he could and then looked at him smiling, his little fingers on Jace’s cheek.

“Daddy.” He repeated, laughing and hugging him again. Then he turned to Clary, pointing at her and shifting again in her embrace.

“Mommy!” There was no end to his laughter as he moved between them again and again, hugging them and receiving their kisses, until finally he rested in Clary’s arms and Jace embraced them both.

Then William closed his eyes laying his head on Clary’s shoulder and sighed in happiness.

“Mommy.” He whispered, relaxing in the embrace. “Daddy. Sister.”

Little William Herondale fell asleep for the first time in months knowing his family was complete again, in his mother’s arms, with his father’s hand caressing his hair and with his little sister safely held in the arms of his uncle Alec.

***

“I still can’t believe it’s over.” Clary murmured some time later, laying on her bed in the Institute. It was the room she and Jace had shared when they lived there and she never set foot in it again after William was kidnapped. It was neat and tidy, everything in its place, like time never passed. Instinctively she knew she had to thank Simon for that. And Isabelle. They always hoped things would work out for her and Jace and kept the room as a sanctuary. Being there again was like going back in time and set her heart at peace.

After some _iratze_, a shower and changing her clothes she felt as good as new, thanks to her advanced runes; Jace was beside her, on his side and between them William was peacefully sleeping. The child had briefly awakened upon his return to the Institute and he had been covered in hugs and kisses from every member of the family, before falling asleep again in the arms of his mother. Jocelyn, Luke, Maryse and Robert were staying at the Institute and even though Robert and Luke were needed in Idris to deal with the situation, they were all determined to stay as long as they could at the Institute, to be with their little nephew.

“I still can’t believe it either.” He whispered, caressing his son’s hair. “And we’re damn lucky that Simon and Isabelle destroyed those reports as soon as they did. I never dreamt that Jia would show up that fast. She must have paid a warlock to gate them right in the throne room.”

“I heard Magnus telling her that we would take care of Kaelie ourselves.” She said, looking up on him. “I’m sorry she died, Jace.”

He sighed, turning his gaze on her. “I wish I could have done more for her. She didn’t deserve to die like that, tortured and in pain. It was my fault, I didn’t protect her like I promised I would.”

“It was _Jiliel’s_ fault.” Clary remarked, shaking her head. “He was the one who killed her. He was the one who tortured her. You did everything you could, Jace.”

“And yet, she’s dead because she decided to help us. And it was her family who did this to her.” He lowered his gaze again but Clary saw the pain in his eyes. She knew her husband and it would take a long time before Jace could forgive himself for failing Kaelie, before he could be rid of his guilt. That dull pain in the chest was Jiliel's legacy, but she swore to herself that she wouldn't let the Fey damage them further. She took Jace's hand in hers, caressing his knuckles.

“Clary, I’m so sick of families killing each other. Shouldn’t a family treasure its members?”

“It should…” She murmured, thinking about her own brother. “But you know, you don’t always get the family you deserve. And you can’t choose the family you’re born with, but you can choose the people you want around in your life: Kaelie, in the end, chose us. She chose you. She died protecting the person she cared about, doing what was right.”

Jace sighed and squeezed her hand. “I’m so glad this is over. I’m so glad my family is together again. You’re my heart Clary, you and Will. My whole soul. And when I think I almost lost you both… “

He looked at her again, then lowered his gaze on Will as if he couldn’t bear to look at her. “I was bluffing. In the Seelie Court.”

Clary immediately understood what he was talking about. She gently caressed his face. “Jace, you could never kill someone who can’t defend himself. It’s not in you.”

“I kept stalling and stalling, hoping the Queen would release Will.” He whispered, closing his eyes. “But I knew I would have never killed her daughter. She was there, under my sword, sleeping, helpless. Clary, what would have happened if the Queen saw my bluff?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed, still caressing him. “And I don’t want to think about it. All I want to think about right now, is that we’re here and we’re safe and William is with us.”

Jace slowly nodded and then carefully pushed himself forward, looking at her. “By the Angel, you’re so beautiful. I’ll never let anybody tear us apart again, I swear.”

She smiled and touched his forehead with her own. “You won’t get rid of me that easily, Jace Herondale. I can promise you that.”

“Yes, please.” He whispered. “Promise me, Clary.”

Reaching out he kissed her, a gently caress of his lips on hers, light pressure that told her she was loved, cherished, protected. When he looked at her again, his golden eyes were shining. “And I promise you, you’ll never feel lost again. You’ll never be alone. I’ll be by your side every step of the way, never asking, never demanding. If you want to kiss me, I’ll be there. If you want to hug me, my arms will be open. If you’re never ready to sleep with me again, I’ll just hold you in my arms and thank all the Angels in Heaven that you’re with me and that you love me. Forever, Clary. Always.”

“I want to…” Clary repressed a sob, biting her lower lip. “I need to be with you again, Jace. I need you so much that it’s painful.”

“Hey.” He held her chin in his hand, making her look at him. “In your own time Clary. When you’re ready. I’ll be there to help and I'll wait for you.”

“Yes,” she breathed, leaning her face in his palm, his strong, warm hand that had always protected her. “I know you will.”

***

The late afternoon light was shining through the windows, showing the hints of the sunset soon to come. Clary and Jace stayed silent for a while, just watching their son sleeping, revelling in the simple fact they could touch him, be with him, something that was denied to them for so long. And when finally William yawned and opened his golden eyes, Clary wanted to cry for the sheer pleasure and joy of seeing the recognition in them and knowing she could finally hug him to her heart.

“Mommy.” Will smiled, sitting up and turning around. “Daddy!”

He threw himself into Jace’s arms and then looked around, recognising the room. “Home! Will home!”

“Yes baby.” Clary answered, caressing his hair. “You’re home.”

“Will hungry.” He said, stroking his tummy.

Jace laughed, hugging him. “Well, buddy, let’s go eat?”

“Yes!” William stood up on the bed, clasping his hands.

Jace took him in his arms and kissed his forehead before leaving the bed. Clary opened the door, but as soon as they left the bedroom, the cry of a baby stopped them. Nobody knew that Sebastian’s daughter was there, nobody even knew she existed, aside for Clary’s and Jace’s families. Alec had brought her to the Institute before Jia arrived and they intended to keep her a secret from everybody, at least until they figured out if and how exactly she was bonded to William.

William instantly turned his head toward the sound and pointed his little finger. “Daddy, Will want Sister!”

“Uncle Magnus is with her, baby.” Clary tried to say, “Will is hungry, right?”

“Mommy, Sister sad!” Will argued, his face serious.

“She’s hungry too, baby.” She tried again. She didn’t want her son near that child, not when they still didn’t know if she was dangerous or not. “Uncle Magnus will feed her.”

William shook his head, stubborn as only a child can be. “Sister sad. Will know. Mommy, Sister!”

The child pointed again and Clary sighed, half relieved that it looked like Will was quickly remembering how to talk now that he was home and half aggravated that he was using his voice to see Sebastian’s daughter… but there was no denying him when he looked at her with those eyes.

“Alright buddy.” Jace tried to smile but he couldn’t completely hide his worry. “Let’s go to her.”

“I suppose we’ll have to face this sooner or later.”. Clary grumbled, leading the way to where the crying was coming from. Magnus was in the room his son Max used when he was in the Institute and was apparently trying to feed the baby they brought with them from the Seelie Court. She was wailing, her face as red as her hair, her eyes squeezed shut, fisting the soft, warm blanket she was wrapped into.

As soon as he saw her, Will demanded to be put down so he could go to her and Magnus looked at Jace and Clary, raising an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

“William won’t be swayed. Whatever the Seelie Queen did, Will wants that baby.” Jace stated, looking at his son. “Just be ready for anything.”

The warlock nodded and then he slowly sank to his knees, showing the child to Will. “Here she is, sweetie.”

William smiled and raised his hand to caress the baby’s hair.

Nobody expected what happened next.

The baby instantly stopped crying, sobbed a couple of times and then quieted. She yawned and stretched in Magnus’ arms and then she opened her eyes: they were a vivid green, a colour bright and vibrant.

Clary held her breath as she instantly recognised them: those were Sebastian’s eyes. No, she corrected herself, those were _Jonathan’s_ eyes, the eyes of the brother of her dreams, the caring, loving brother she never really met.

And they were fixed on William with total, utter adoration.

“Now Sister no sad.” The child said with obvious satisfaction. Nobody dared disagreeing with him.


	22. Laetitia - The Circle closes

“We need to know, Magnus.” Jace said a week later, after putting William to sleep. He had played all afternoon with Simon and Isabelle, as happy as he could be. Since he came back he was showered in so much love that he was always laughing. And with every little smile, he healed a wound in his parents hearts.

It was amazing how much could change in so little time: as soon as Jia had returned to Alicante, she had made known through the Vampire representative that any attempt of hurting the Herondale family would have been considered an act of war toward the Nephilim and would have been dealt accordingly. Facing the likely annihilation of their entire species, the Night Children had wisely decided to back down from their dreams of daywalking and were rewarded with the unspoken forgiveness for having even thought about allying with the Fairies against the Shadowhunters. Of course the werewolves were furious about the unprovoked attacks on their packs, so the vampires weren't in a happy place right now, but the Nephilim were going to let the werewolves have their revenge, at least until they didn't cross the line.

For the first time in months, Clary and Jace felt safe. The fairies were still shocked by the loss of their Queen and were trying to survive and choose a new one among the relatives of the former sovereign. It was weird but the emissary the Seelie fairies sent to the Clave almost looked relieved that the old Queen was dead.

“You wouldn’t believe it,” Clary had commented when she returned from one of the Council meetings. “I think the fairies were pretty tired of having to put up with the Queen and her hatred for the Shadowhunters. This ambassador actually looks like he’s willing to work with us to stabilise the Fairy Kingdom, saying it’s time for them to rebuild.”

And Jace would know because he was keeping close contact both with the ambassador and with Jia, to make sure that the fairies were spared from further punishments: he owed Kaelie that much.

What neither of them liked was that Spyra, the Unseelie Princess, had made an appearance in Idris, to sustain her brother’s claim that the Unseelie fairies wanted to detach from the Seelie ones and be treated as their own species. The Herondales and the Lightwoods were bound by Alec's promise to the Unseelie King to back the claim up, and while they were hating it with all their hearts, they were still doing it. A Shadowhunter never breaks his oaths.

Aside from the Council meetings though, they never went to Idris and they never stayed for more time than necessary. They had more personal matters to attend at home. Such as what to do with Sebastian’s daughter.

“Are you sure?” Magnus asked, looking at Jace. “Maybe we can wait a bit more.”

“No.” Clary was with them, just outside the door of the room where both William and the baby were sleeping. “William won’t leave her. He cries if he’s not with her, she cries if she’s alone. We must face the possibility that they’re linked somehow.”

“And what if they are?” Alec asked, leaning on the wall beside the door. Isabelle and Simon were there as well, worried faces looking at them.

“I don’t know.” Jace sighed. “Kaelie said that the baby was always sick, that she was weak but she never even sneezed since she’s here. And her eyes are green, not black. Maybe Will really healed her and that bonded them together.”

Magnus shook his head looking at him. “I’m pretty sure that’s not the case. There has to be an exchange to bond two people together and I don’t think the baby ever gave anything to Will. The Queen would have had to shatter the crystal to give William some of the baby’s blood because in that case sharing it with magic wouldn't have worked. She would have needed to really extract it from her and that would have weakened her: she wouldn’t have risked it until she was sure the baby was healed.”

There was a moment of silence before Magnus resumed. “Honestly, I think you should just consider the possibility that they love each other like siblings. Just simple love, no dark magic involved. Will went through a big shock in the last months and he was repeatedly told the baby is his sister. She recognises him because he gave her his blood.”

As one weird look was exchanged between Jace and Clary, Simon whistled and nodded. “Oh, I get it, Fray. You two are getting attached to the baby, right? And before you fall irrevocably in love with her, you need to know if she’s evil or not.”

“I’m not… she’s not…” Clary tried, but then looked at her _parabatai_. “You’re frustrating, Simon.”

“I just know you. Sometimes more than you know yourself.”

“It’s just…” Jace ran a hand through his hair in distress. “She was crying earlier today. She was crying and she wouldn’t stop. And then Clary picked her up and the baby looked at her and then she grabbed my finger. She relaxed in Clary’s arms and she fell asleep holding my finger. She wouldn’t let go. So we sat down and then William arrived and he climbed in my lap and just stayed there with this happy smile…”

He looked at his family, then he sighed. “We need to know that she’s fine, that she will be… fine. That she won’t fall sick or grow up and become some crazy monster we’ll be forced to put down. Do you understand?”

“I’ll tell you something Jace.” Alec quietly said, his arms crossed on his chest. “Do you remember when Hodge died? You asked him why he never told you about Valentine and what he did to you. Do you remember what he answered?”

Jace was silent for a minute before murmuring. “He said that he couldn’t be sure of who I really was. And that he hoped that upbringing would matter more than blood.”

“If you love this baby, you can make the difference.” Alec continued, nodding his head. “Even if Sebastian blood is still in her, you can help her overcome it. Sebastian was raised in hatred and spite, this baby would be cherished. She would know what love means.”

“Oh brother, you’re such a soft heart.” Isabelle whispered, leaning her head on Alec’s shoulder. “But he’s right. I hated Sebastian, you know that. He killed Max. But honestly, I look at his daughter and I just see a baby. I don’t see him at all. She smiles. She laughs. She’s innocent.”

“And any ritual that I could do to be sure that the demon blood is gone, would hurt her.” Magnus added. “I’d have to see if she reacts to anything demonic, and it wouldn’t be a piece of cake for her, especially if she’s healed and Will’s angelic blood replaced her own.”

“What if— ” Clary asked after a moment of silence. “What if this is a mistake? What if blood is more important than upbringing? What if she grows up and we find out we made the wrong choice?”

“You can’t know that.” Simon took a step toward her. “Nobody can. Blood isn’t the only thing that can turn someone evil, you know. Do you think Darth Vader turned to the Dark Side because it was written in his DNA? Ha!”

Clary hit him on the shoulder, trying not to laugh. “Only you could bring up a Star Wars reference now, Simon.”

“Hey, but it’s true!” He insisted. “And look what happened. He turned to the Dark Side and did a lot of nasty stuff, but in the end he found himself again, and saved everyone.”

“In his nerdy way, he’s right, Clary.” Isabelle wasn’t even pretending not to be laughing. “Stuff happens. Life happens. It can be good and it can be bad, but in the end, all we can do is our best.”

Clary was about to reply when a sudden cry of protest rose from the room behind them and she rushed inside to check. Just a second later, the crying stopped and she came out with a soft bundle in her arms. The baby was awake, her green eyes open and curiously looking around, a pacifier in her mouth that she was religiously sucking. One hand grabbed a lock of Clary’s red hair and started twirling it between the fingers, fascinated by the texture.

“Will is still asleep. I got her before she woke him.” She whispered, carefully holding the baby.

“I say we call her Leia.” Simon burst out, looking at the child wrapped in her pink blanket. “So she’ll always remember that she can be a Jedi, and not a Sith.”

“On my dead body, Lovelace.” Jace gave him a cuff on the head. “We already have a name for her, anyway.”

Silence fell as they suddenly realised that it was a done deal: giving the baby a name meant that they were keeping her, for better and for worse. They wouldn’t subject her to any test, they wouldn’t hurt her that way. All they could do was love her, make her part of a family who would cherish her every step of the way. And as weird as it sounded, giving that she was the daughter of their worst enemy, it also felt right in their heart.

“So, what’s her name?” Isabelle asked, a smile on her lips.

“She’s called Laetitia.” Clary softly answered.

“Latin for Joy?” Alec raised his eyebrow, looking at her. “She certainly smiles enough to deserve the name.”

“It’s for good luck.” Jace murmured, coming to Clary’s side and caressing the baby’s head. “She was born in pain, in hatred and sickness. We wish her joy now, we wish her that she will always feel loved, that she will always smile.”

“Besides,” he smiled smugly, “I like the way it sounds with my surname. Pretty badass.”

“Laetitia Herondale.” Clary smiled, leaning down to kiss the baby’s forehead. “Our daughter. Welcome home, sweetie.”

***

It was freezing that day in Idris, but the sky was clear. Snow covered the trees, just like two weeks before when Clary had been to Lake Lyn for the last time. And yet everything had changed.

Clary carried the stroller where Laetitia was sleeping toward the water and looked at her husband and son, playing in the snow. William was hitting his father with snowballs and Jace was laughing, playing target.

“Hello Jonathan.” She softly called. “I guess you were not expecting me so soon right? After all the last time I was here, I cursed you.”

She sighed and gently caressed her daughter’s cheek.

“Things changed. Again. And for the better this time. William is back and thanks the Angel he’s alright. It was all a cruel trick but I’m somehow grateful for that because at least I know he’s healthy. He’s speaking again and my greatest joy is hearing him calling for me. Every time he says Mommy, I just melt. Can a boy be cuter than that?”

Looking at the calm water, she continued. “It’s been hard. It still is. But I’m healing and I have Jace to thank for that: he’s so patient with me, so loving. Sometimes I feel like a teenager with him, counting down the bases we touch in our relationship. And no, I’m not telling you which base we’re on now… come on, that would be gross, brother.”

She smiled, a secret, pleased light in her eyes. “But it’s going well. And it will be better. I won’t let Jiliel ruin this for me, like he tried to do. No way I’m giving him that power over me. So yes, I’ll be alright.”

She gently picked up Laetitia from the stroller and the baby woke up slowly, yawning and stretching. Looking at her, Clary smiled again.

“Today I came because I want you to meet someone special. You never had the chance before, but I think it is important to introduce you two: meet your daughter, Laetitia.” She kissed her and held her close to her face. “People think she’s an orphan Jace and I adopted after the last battle with the Fairies and that’s fine. We’re working on making peace with them, so that she’ll never have to suffer like Helen and Mark Blackthorn did. I’ll raise her as my daughter and I promise you that she’ll be loved as if I gave birth to her. She’ll be protected, cherished, cared for. Like you should have been, brother. And one day, when she’s old enough, Jace and I will tell her the truth and we’ll make sure that she knows the real you, the one who never had the chance to exist. I promise you.”

Clary hugged Laetitia, stroking her hair and suddenly the baby turned, watching the lake. She smiled and held her little hand out, like she was grabbing something just as a weird, warm breeze brushed her and Clary. Clary closed her eyes, letting the wind touch her cheek and she raised her face to the sun, a soft “Thank you” whispering in her ear before being carried away by the breeze, up in the sky, toward the light.

William laughed behind her and she saw him and Jace walking to them.

Clary kissed her daughter again, put her back in the stroller and joined with her the rest of her family to play in the snow.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Author’s note:** And that’s all folks.  
As you noticed, there is no time skip to show what will become of Will and Laetitia… that’s because I don’t know what they will grow up into. I left the door open for the future and I share the hope of both Jace and Clary that Laetitia will grow up to be a joyful, bright young woman because she was loved and cared for since the beginning. That’s how I want to imagine her and that’s my tribute to Jonathan Morgenstern and the man he could have been if he had been raised in love, instead of spite.
> 
> A word about the name Laetitia. Why that name? I wanted a name to wish that baby good luck with her life, so I thought a lot about it. The most obvious choice was Hope, but I didn’t like it. Then came Dawn, as the start of a new day/life. And then I came to Joy and that made sense to me. But I didn’t like the sound of it ahahah. I looked up for names that meant Joy in different languages and I came across the latin Laetitia. Since latin is common background for the Shadowhunters, I thought, why not? And I liked the sound of it. So Laetitia was chosen :)
> 
> I loved this story with all my heart and I hope my fantasy kept you company for a while. Bye all! :)


End file.
